Leeds Council calls for cash for Covid sufferers ordered to stay home

The track and trace scheme could see individuals told to stay home for two weeks if they are thought to have Covid-19 or if they are thought to have been in close contact with someone who has it.

But, with statutory sick pay currently around £95 per week, Leeds City Council leader Judith Blake has warned some who are under financial pressure may feel they have to continue going into work in order to keep paying their bills.

“The personal circumstances of individuals varies enormously,” she told a press conference this week. “What we can’t have is a situation where anyone feels they have to hide their symptoms because of a lack of financial support from their employers.

“There are many people who are on zero-hours contracts or work for agencies, for example, who might not get that level of financial support.

“It is absolutely crucial that the government picks that up, and makes sure that anyone who is in a position where they need to self isolate can actually do so. Financial considerations should not impede that decision.

“After all, this is a major public health incident. We have to enable everyone possible to self-isolate so we can reduce the spread of the disease.”

Under the new system, NHS tracers, or local public health teams, will text, email or call people who test positive with coronavirus and ask them to share details of those they have been in close contact with, along with places they have visited.

These contacts will then be considered to be at risk of infection and be instructed to self-isolate at home for 14 days as a result, even if they are not displaying any symptoms.

But unions have called on the government to increase support for those told to stay home.

Speaking earlier this week, TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “We need a testing and tracing programme up and running as soon as possible. But it will not be effective if workers are pushed into hardship when they are required to self-isolate.

“Statutory sick pay is just £95 per week – and two million workers aren’t even eligible for that.

“If workers can’t afford to self-isolate, then they will be forced to keep working. That will put them, their workmates and their local community at risk, and undermine the entire test and trace programme.

“The government must extend statutory sick pay to everyone – no matter what they’re paid – and raise it to the level of the real Living Wage, £260 per week. And the self-employed income support scheme must remain in place as a source of financial support for those forced to self-isolate. That’s how to show that we really are all in this together.”