UK unveils emergency measures to support self-employed against coronavirus impact

The UK government has on Thursday announced emergency measures to support self-employed people amid the coronavirus outbreak.
The new measures were revealed after the government faced mounting pressure to match the financial aid offered to other workers.
“You have not been forgotten,” British Finance Minister Rishi Sunak said in a press conference.
Pressure has grown on the UK government to act to support self-employed people, many of whom have their work dry up amid a national lockdown – aimed to control the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
To avoid a potential mass lay-offs due to of the economic standstill caused by the virus, Sunak announced last week that the government would pay up to 80 percent of the wages (to a maximum of £2,500 a month, about $3,000) of those workers kept on by employers.
As of Thursday, the UK had confirmed 9,962 new cases of the coronavirus, with 467 deaths, a data compiled by Johns Hopkins University showed.