Employees in West Yorkshire concerned if they have to self-isolate

Pubs, gyms, salons, and non-essential shops re-opened on Monday and with furlough coming to an end, many are met with a new worry.

Author: Hannah NorburyPublished 14th Apr 2021

Some employees in West Yorkshire are concerned if they have to self-isolate.

Many people returned to the office on Monday (12th April) when pubs, gyms, salons, and non-essential shops re-opened. It also means furlough, which many have relied on financially, is coming to an end.

Ian Priestly visits furniture stores to encourage them to display his work and makes a living through the sale of these, he said:

"I've had one year without any income due to the Covid restrictions and not having any access to existing schemes, so any further hampering, would be economically disastrous.

"I think I can speak for a lot of people, that the thought of further disruption is a big, big worry and the concerns of self-isolation and taking ourselves further back from normality, is of course a concern."

The Department of Health and Social Care said:

"To help people overcome the practical challenges of being asked to self-isolate, government has today (Friday 26 March) announced an extra £12.9 million a month in additional funding to local councils to help them provide people with more support.

This new funding will help local authorities continue to support those who are isolating as we begin to cautiously ease restrictions, going towards access to food, help with caring responsibilities and support for people’s wellbeing.

On top of this, £3.2 million per month has been allocated to a free medicines delivery service for people who are self-isolating and don’t have access to help in collecting their prescription.

This investment comes on top of increased funding of £20 million per month for local authorities, which covers the cost of discretionary support payments through the Test and Trace Support Payment scheme (TTSP) for people on lower incomes, or facing financial hardship, who cannot work from home."

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