Professor Susan Michie, an adviser on the Government’s Scientific Pandemic Insights Group on Behaviours (Spi-B), said she was in favour of paying people from low-income households to self-isolate.
It comes after the Government decided not to go ahead with a proposal to pay £500 to everyone who tests positive for coronavirus in order to increase the number of people abiding by quarantine rules.
Prof Michie said evidence showed 80% of people with symptoms are not staying at home for the whole 10 days and the main reason for that is people needing to go to work to get an income.
Speaking on Times Radio, she described it as a “financial issue”, adding: “People who can’t afford to stay at home, paying them to stay at home would help.”
She said £500 is not enough for people on low income, suggesting that they should be “paid just automatically what they get”.
