Families of health and social care workers killed by the coronavirus in Great Britain will receive a large bereavement payment from the government, Reuters reported.
The “Life Assurance Scheme” will pay around $75,000 — 60,000 pounds — to the families of National Health Service employees “who die from coronavirus in the course of their essential front-line work,” said Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Matt Hancock on Monday.
“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,” Hancock added.
Our life assurance scheme for front line NHS and social care colleagues supports families of staff who die from #coronavirus in the course of essential work with a £60,000 payment. Nothing replaces a loved one but support is vital. pic.twitter.com/QzA4JILzwf
— Matt Hancock (@MattHancock) April 27, 2020
The “scheme” announced Monday is only for the families of health care workers in England, where around 100 have already died, according to Reuters. Families in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales will receive funds from similar programs.
The British government was also considering other front-line professions that do not have access to similar life assurance programs, Hancock said.
Thousands of retired doctors and nurses were asked to return to work at the NHS to bolster’s the country’s pandemic response last month, the BBC reported.
The United Kingdom has been struck hard by the pandemic, with more than 154,000 confirmed cases and nearly 21,000 deaths, according to a Johns Hopkins tally.