Friday morning news briefing: Get Covid, get paid?

Friday morning news briefing: Get Covid, get paid?

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Cash support for all Covid cases under consideration

Get Covid, get paid? Ministers are considering paying £500 to everyone who tests positive for coronavirus, under plans that would cost the state almost £2bn a month. Health officials are understood to have drawn up proposals amid fears just one person in six with symptoms is coming forward for tests as some worry a positive result would cost them too dearly. Only those on a low income who cannot work from home and are eligible for benefits can apply for a "support payment". But ministers are considering replacing it with a universal payment. Health Editor Laura Donnelly reports on what else is suggested in the policy papers. And let Matt raise a smile with today's homeschooling-inspired cartoon.

Meanwhile, ministers are trying to force Boris Johnson into closing Britain's borders to foreigners amid a growing Cabinet row over how to prevent new Covid variants spreading to the UK. The option of banning all non-British travellers from entering the country was previously rejected by the Prime Minister. But it is back on the agenda for a meeting