People in Lincoln and North Kesteven can now apply for a £500 grant if they face financial hardship while they need to self-isolate due to coronavirus.
On Monday, September 28, it became law in England for those who have either tested positive for coronavirus or those who have been asked by NHS Test and Trace to self-isolate.
Those who test positive must self-isolate for 10 days from the date they took the test, while those living with or in their support bubble must self-isolate for 14 days.
In recognition that some may face financial difficulties due to having to self-isolate and therefore being unable to work, the new self-isolation grant has been set up, awarding £500 to those who qualify.
To be eligible for the £500 Test and Trace Support Payment you must:
Have been told to stay at home and self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace, either because you have tested positive for coronavirus or have recently been in close contact with someone who has tested positive.
Be employed or self-employed.
Be unable to work from home and will lose income as a result.
Be currently receiving Universal Credit, Working Tax Credit, income-based Employment and Support Allowance, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income Support, Housing Benefit and/or Pension Credit.
Local authorities can make a £500 discretionary payment to individuals who:
Have been told to stay at home and self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace, either because they have tested positive for coronavirus or have recently been in close contact with someone who has tested positive.
Are employed or self-employed.
Are unable to work from home and will lose income as a result.
In addition, the discretionary payment is being set up for people who do not qualify for the Test and Trace Support Payment, such as those:
Not currently receiving Universal Credit, Working Tax Credit, income-based Employment and Support Allowance, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income Support, Housing Benefit and/or Pension Credit, and
On low incomes and facing financial hardship as a result of not being able to work while they are self-isolating.
Ric Metcalfe, Leader at City of Lincoln Council said: “We welcome this funding and are supportive of helping those who face financial hardship during this difficult time.
“This grant enables people to do the right thing, as we know that many are facing the difficult situation of making a choice between self-isolation and feeding their families.
“Both teams at Lincoln and North Kesteven have done a tremendous job in pulling together resources quickly and efficiently, and I hope this fund will help those facing hardship during this pandemic.”
Richard Wright, Leader at North Kesteven District Council, added: “We must keep protecting each other from coronavirus, and self-isolation is one of the most effective tools we have as individuals to do this.
“Self-isolating immediately if you’ve symptoms or a positive COVID-19 test result, or when told to do so by Test and Trace, breaks the chain of transmission and limits the spread.
“These grants will help ensure people working on low incomes can self-isolate, as now required by law, with less of the worry and strain on finances that being unable to work during self-isolation would create.
“If anyone is struggling due to coronavirus financially or otherwise, regardless of their situation, I’d urge them to get in touch with their local authority. We’re here to help and can signpost people to all the available support and advice.”
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A temporary shortage of certain chemicals is affecting the availability of GP practices in Lincolnshire to carry out routine blood tests.
Swiss healthcare company Roche wrote to NHS labs across the country on Monday after an issue at a new “automated warehouse” caused “a very significant drop” in its processing capacity, according to the Financial Times.
The report claims that “clinicians fear the situation will exacerbate existing shortages in supplies of diagnostics equipment, both for coronavirus and other diseases.”
The situation around Roche and the supply of reagent chemicals has had a knock-on effect on GP practices in Lincolnshire, but clinically urgent blood tests can still be processed.
A spokesperson on behalf of HNS Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group said: “Unfortunately the problems being experienced by NHS supplier Roche are not fully resolved and there is still a temporary shortage of certain chemicals that is affecting the availability of routine blood tests carried out by GP practices, although our GP practices can still process clinically urgent tests.
“We understand this is frustrating for patients, and we are working hard with our partners locally to resolve this as quickly as possible.
“This issue is not in the practices’ control and they are having to rearrange appointments. Please remember to be patient and kind to practice staff.”
A flat in North Hykeham has been given a closure order by North Kesteven District Council after illegal activities and anti-social behaviour.
The flat at 60 Hutson Drive was reported numerous times for illegal behaviour, including the use of drugs and violence.
Lincoln Magistrates Court granted the order which means that anyone who tries to enter the property other than the tenant will be committing a criminal offence.
The order has been put in place for three months under the anti-social behaviour legislation.
NKDC’s community safety manager Heidi Ryder said: “There have been a number of reports to the police and the council about the behaviour of people both from the address and from people visiting it.
“This has included the use of drugs, violence and behaviour which is impacting on other residents in the area.
“This cannot be tolerated and despite a significant amount of work with a number of organisations trying to resolve the matter the issues have continued.
“We have taken this course of action to provide reassurance to other residents in the community who have been affected by the behaviour.”
A newly qualified driver accused of causing a crash which killed three of her passengers told police she did not know how it happened.
Kasey Boulton, 19, is alleged to have hit a tree after losing control of her car as she drove along Heath Lane in Welton, near Lincoln.
Lincoln Crown Court heard that three passengers Ricky Sharp,17, Aiden Sawyer, 17, and Joby John Scrimshaw, 14, were killed in the collision which involved no other vehicles.
Miss Boulton and her two other passengers were also seriously injured.
The prosecution allege Boulton’s car was only designed to hold four passengers but at the time of crash had five with Ricky Sharp sitting in the footwell behind the front passenger.
Ian Way, prosecuting, told a jury that the overloading of the car caused the vehicle to be unbalanced which contributed to Boulton losing control.
Boulton suffered multiple injuries during the collision but gave a voluntary interview to police two weeks after the crash.
During the interview Boulton admitted that she was a fairly inexperienced driver who had passed her driving test just a month before the collision.
Boulton told police she took loads of lessons and drove her car ‘most days’ after passing her driving test at the fourth time.
The incident happened as Boulton was driving towards Lincoln having picked up a house key from her home at Welton just minutes earlier.
In her police interview Boulton said she had spent the day in Lincoln with various friends and had driven to Welton from Sainsburys with five passengers in her car.
When asked if she was aware having six people in the car was an issue Boulton replied “yes,” adding that she did not overthink it or want to leave Ricky Sharp on his own.
Flowers laid at the scene in tribute to the Welton Cliff crash victims. | Photo: Connor Creaghan for The Lincolnite
Boulton said none of the passengers were fooling around or doing anything to distract her, and she was not smoking or using her mobile phone while driving.
She also insisted that she had not drunk any alcohol or taken any drugs during the day. After the collision Boulton produced negative results for both drugs and alcohol.
Bolton told police she was driving at between 50 and 55mph on the 60 limit road but could not remember the immediate moments before the collision with the tree.
“I just remember the feeling of the car being at the wrong angle,” Boulton said. “I screamed.”
| Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Defence barrister Michael Cranmer-Brown has suggested there could be other possible scenarios which explain why Miss Boulton as an inexperienced driver may have “over compensated” and her car swerved off the road.
The jury heard one of the car’s brake pads was found to have seized.
Boulton, 19, of Heath Close, Welton, denies three charges of causing death by dangerous driving as a result of the incident on March 25, 2019.
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