A further 6,874 people have tested positive for coronavirus in the UK, bringing the overall number of cases – as of Thursday – to 416,363.
Meanwhile, there has been criticism that Rishi Sunak’s new Job Support Scheme does not do enough to help those who are self-employed.
From November until the end of January, many self-employed workers can claim back 20% of their average monthly trading profits, capped at a total of £1,875.
But the help misses out around 1.5 million people who have been given too little support through the crisis, said director of policy at the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed (IPSE) Andy Chamberlain.
He said: ‘Although it is right for the Chancellor to extend Seiss, the support announced today still excludes one in three self-employed people.
‘Limited company freelancers and the newly self-employed almost entirely missed out on support in the last lockdown and have faced bleak months of financial devastation.’
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