Coronavirus: Families of frontline NHS and social care staff who die from COVID-19 to get £60k

Families of frontline NHS and social care staff who die from coronavirus will each receive a £60,000 payment, Matt Hancock has announced.

The health secretary told the daily Downing Street briefing on COVID-19 that 82 NHS workers and 16 social care staff had died with the virus so far.

“I feel a deep personal sense of duty that we must care for their loved ones,” he 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.”

Mr Hancock said the government was also looking at other frontline professions who do not have access to a life assurance scheme “to see where this may be required”.

He also revealed that some NHS services which had been paused due to the coronavirus outbreak will be restored from Tuesday, starting with urgent services “like cancer care and mental health support”.

Another 360 coronavirus deaths in UK hospitals were announced on Monday – the lowest daily increase in four weeks.

A total of 21,092 hospital patients have now died in the UK after testing positive for COVID-19, the Department of Health said.

It is the smallest daily rise in coronavirus deaths in UK hospitals since 30 March when 180 deaths were confirmed.

Monday’s figure is also the smallest percentage increase on the previous day to date at 1.7%.

Earlier, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the UK is “beginning to turn the tide” in the fight against COVID-19, but he insisted it was not the time to relax the nationwide lockdown.

England’s chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitt, told the Downing Street briefing that the country is “definitely not consistently past the peak” of coronavirus deaths.

Prof Whitty said there was still a “very long way to run” as he was asked about the expected death total the UK might face.

The government’s chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance had suggested that keeping the death toll below 20,000 would be a good outcome – but that total has been surpassed in hospitals alone.

“We need to view this epidemic over the long run and this has got a very long way to run,” Prof Whitty said.

Monday’s Downing Street briefing was the first to invite members of the public to send in questions, with 15,000 submitted.

Lynn from Skipton asked whether being able to hug close family members will be one of the first things to be allowed when the lockdown is eased.

Prof Whitty said it will depend on “individuals’ circumstances”, in terms of their age and health conditions.

More follows…

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