Families of NHS and social care staff who die from coronavirus in the course of “essential frontline work” will receive a £60,000 payment, Matt Hancock has said.
The Health Secretary announced the new life assurance scheme for the families of frontline staff at Monday's Downing Street press briefing.
He said 82 NHS workers and 16 social care staff have died so far.
“I feel a deep personal sense of duty that we must care for their loved ones,” Mr Hancock said.
“Today, I am able to announce that the Government is setting up a life assurance scheme for NHS and social care frontline colleagues.
“Families of staff who die from coronavirus in the course of their essential frontline work will receive a £60,000 payment.
“Of course, nothing replaces the loss of a loved one but we want to do everything we can to support families who are dealing with this grief.”
It comes with the UK set to fall silent at 11am on Tuesday in tribute to key workers who have died during the pandemic.
Also today:
- Professor Chris Whitty, England's chief medical officer, said the country is not “consistently” past the peak of coronavirus deaths.
- Mr Hancock announced that some NHS services which had been paused will be restored from Tuesday, "starting with the most urgent, like cancer care and mental health support." He added: “The exact pace of the restoration will be determined by local circumstances on the ground."
- He also said the Government still aims to conduct 250,000 virus tests a day – including antibody tests.
- NHS England medical director Professor Stephen Powis said he has asked experts to urgently look into reports that a coronavirus-related syndrome among children may be emerging in the UK.
- Chancellor Rishi Sunak earlier announced small businesses will be eligible for new loans worth up to £50,000, backed by a 100 per cent government guarantee.
- The number of people who have died from coronavirus in UK hospitals increased by 360, bringing the total death toll to 21,092.
Mr Hancock added at today's briefing that the Government was looking at other frontline professions which do not have access to a life assurance scheme.
He said: “As a Government, we are looking closely at other professions that work on the front line against coronavirus, who also do not have access to such schemes, to see where this may be required.”
Prof Whitty said there was an “artificial drop” in virus deaths over the weekend typically seen because of lower notification rates.
He said “the trend overall… is a gradual decline but we’re definitely not consistently past the peak across the whole country at this point in time."
The Health Secretary said there were 3,190 spare critical care beds – adding “42 per cent of oxygen-supported beds in the NHS now lie empty”.
“In most parts of the country, the number of people in hospital with coronavirus is beginning to fall," he said.
Prof Whitty added later that older and vulnerable people may continue to have to be shielded even after lockdown measures are eased for the rest of society.
