Covid-19 carriers 'refuse to get tested over money worries'

Covid-19 carriers ‘refuse to get tested over money worries’: People with coronavirus symptoms are too scared to get screened in case they need to stop working and isolate… days after Downing Street rules out plan to pay £500 to anyone who is positive

• Baroness Dido Harding said that fewer than six in ten members of the public are self-isolating when told to do so
• She also stated during a webinar that many people are not coming forward to be tested in the first place because of fears they might have to self-isolate without financial support
• Currently, Government financial support is only available to low earners who are unable to work from home and already receive benefits

People with Covid symptoms are too ‘scared’ to get tested because of a lack of financial support from the Government, the head of Test and Trace has said.

Dido Harding admitted that fewer than six in ten members of the public are self-isolating when told to do so.

Her comments come days after Downing Street ruled out proposals from the Department of Health to pay £500 to all people who test positive for the virus.

Speaking at a Confederation of British Industry webinar, she said: ‘The biggest challenge there is less people not following the isolation guidance, it’s people not coming forward for testing in the first place – people who were scared that there isn’t financial support.

‘The latest data we have from Test and Trace would suggest that about just under 60 per cent of people are following the advice.’ But she stressed that all surveys on isolation data are ‘imperfect’ because they rely on people reporting on their own behaviour.

People with Covid symptoms are too ‘scared’ to get tested because of a lack of financial support from the Government, the head of Test and Trace has said. Dido Harding (pictured) admitted during a British Industry webinar that fewer than six in ten members of the public are self-isolating when told to do so

Under the rules, those contacted by NHS Test and Trace are told to stay indoors and not have contact with anyone outside their household for ten days.

The Tory peer urged employers to encourage employees to get tested if they have symptoms and provide cash help so staff can afford to take days off work.

Last week Health Secretary Matt Hancock faced a furious backlash after plans surfaced to give everyone testing positive £500. The proposal, which would cost up to £450million a week, aims to encouraging more people to self-isolate to stop the virus spreading.

Current help – the Test and Trace Support Payment – is limited to low earners who are unable to work from home and already receive benefits.

Under current rules, those contacted by NHS Test and Trace are told to stay indoors and not have contact with anyone outside their household for ten days. Financial help from the Government is limited to low earners who are unable to work from home and already receive benefits. Pictured: Students have asymptomatic testing using a lateral flow antigen at a test centre at Edinburgh University on December 2, 2020 [File photo]

Baroness Harding, whose programme has come under fire for its low contact-tracing rates, urged employers to offer rapid lateral flow tests to asymptomatic staff – ideally twice a week.

She said workplace testing was likely to remain in place over the medium to long term.

‘We’re very supportive of all employers rolling this out as part of their normal practices of living with Covid,’ she said.

‘We’d much rather open up parts of the economy before you stop doing the testing.’

Asked about concerns over lateral flow test accuracy, she said ‘a test that finds three-quarters of the people who have got the disease is considerably better than no test at all’.

Source: Read Full Article