Sunak: More than 2mn want grants

LONDON: British finance minister Rishi Sunak has said that more than two million claims for oneoff grants, worth £6 billion ($7.3 billion), had been made under a scheme to provide income support for self-employed people during the crisis.

“Those people will have the money in their bank accounts within six working days of their claim,” Sunak said.

The scheme, which was launched last week and provides grants of up to £7,500, is part of the government’s attempts to soften the hit of the coronavirus shutdown on the economy.

The UK government on Monday included the loss of taste and smell to the core symptoms of Covid-19 after a large number of people and ENT specialists reported these symptoms.

Anyone in the UK aged five or above with symptoms can now be tested for the coronavirus, health officials said.

HEATHROW PROPOSES ‘TRAVEL BUBBLES’

Britain should set up “travel bubbles” with low-risk countries to allow the movement of people, instead of bringing in new quarantine rules when flights restart, according to Heathrow Airport.

The government has been planning a 14-day quarantine for people arriving in the country in the coming weeks. Airlines have warned that the policy is likely to throttle hopes for a travel recovery. HTC & AGENCIES