Yahoo News Why millions may not be able to isolate if they get COVID
Millions of people at the sharp end of the cost-of-living crisis may not be able to afford to isolate with COVID-19 due to a ‘broken system’ of sick pay in the UK, experts have warned.
On Monday, the government announced their intention to scrap remaining domestic COVID restrictions - including the legal requirement to isolate when testing positive from Thursday.
The one-off £500 self-isolation payments for low-income Brits testing positive will also be scrapped, as will sick pay being paid from day one instead of day four.
Other measures, such as tax-payer funded universal testing, will also end in April, as part of the government's 'living with COVID' strategy.
At a Downing Street press conference following the announcement Boris Johnson said the country was moving to a state of "personal responsibility" with the virus.
“Today is not the day we can declare victory over COVID because this virus is not going away," he said.
Read more: Cost of living: Three key dates that will affect the cash in your pocket
“But it is the day when all the efforts of the last two years finally enable us to protect ourselves whilst restoring our liberties in full.
“After two of the darkest, grimmest years in our peacetime history I do believe this is a moment of pride for our nation and a source of hope for all that we can achieve in the years to come.”
The changes to sick pay and the end of free universal testing have triggered widespread concerns.
Low and middle-income think tank, the Resolution Foundation, warned the end of restrictions will leave millions of Brits facing "financial penalties" if they catch COVID due to the UK's low levels of statutory sick pay.
Workers relying on statutory sick pay and unable to work from home who catch COVID will now be faced with a choice of going to work with the virus, or isolating to keep others safe and losing out on income.
The choice comes amid a growing cost-of-living crisis driven by rising inflation, soaring energy bills, and tax hikes.
In the UK, statutory sick pay is around £100 per week - one of the least generous in Europe, and representing a 76% earnings loss for the typical earner.
Millions of Brits who don't get occupational sick pay rely on statutory sick pay, with Black people the ethnic group most likely to rely on it.
A further two million of the lowest earners don’t even qualify for statutory sick pay, with women and over 65s far more likely to fall into this category.
"Two years into a major global pandemic and we still haven't fixed our broken system of sick pay, which particularly penalises our lowest earners and most vulnerable workers," the Resolution Foundation tweeted on Monday.
"It must be fixed - starting by massively extending the eligibility and generosity of statutory stick pay."
Read more: Energy price cap: Who will be hit hardest?
Labour, which has consistently called for higher statutory sick pay during the pandemic, has criticised the government's plans and described them as a "public health risk".
"Weakening [sick pay] now undermines plans to live with COVID and denies workers the security of knowing the can afford to stay at home if they are ill," said Angela Rayner, Labour's deputy leader and shadow secretary of state for the future of work.
"Boris Johnson has all the wrong priorities and cannot understand that if people can't afford to stay home when they are unwell, infections will only spread further."
Trade unions have also criticised the move describing it as a "sledgehammer to public health".
"Nobody should have to wait till their fourth day of being sick to receive support," said Frances O’Grady, TUC General.
She added: “The failure to provide decent sick pay to all – from the first day of illness - is reckless and self-defeating.
“If people can't afford to stay home when they’re sick, they will take their infections into work."
Watch: Boris Johnson suggests Britons should learn from Germany and stay off work when sick
