Self-employed people feeling left in the lurch amid the UK’s coronavirus crisis are set to be thrown a lifeline by the Government later today.

Faced with intense pressure to help the sector survive the outbreak, Chancellor Rishi Sunak will outline measures to soften the blow of the loss of business caused by social distancing measures. The move comes after Prime Minister Boris Johnson told Parliament he wanted to achieve ‘parity of support’ so the self-employed could have similar levels of protection to waged workers.

Last week the Treasury vowed to pay 80% of at-risk workers’ wages to discourage their employers from laying them off, but nothing was said about help for people who work for themselves. Since then an amendment to the emergency Coronavirus Bill was proposed by Liberal Democrat MP Munia Wilson proposing the same level of protection for self-employed and freelance workers.

The Chancellor will outline his measures today, when the number of people diagnosed with Covid-19 in the UK is likely to pass 10,000. Among the infected is the Prince of Wales, who is self-isolating in Scotland after testing positive with what Clarence House described as ‘mild symptoms’.

Also on Wednesday, the Foreign Office announced that StevenDick, 37, the deputy head of mission at the British Embassy in Budapest, haddied after contracting coronavirus.

Meanwhile more than 500,000 people volunteered to help the health service during the crisis in little over 24 hours after the PM appealed to 250,000 to help out.

As the Commons shut down early for Easter due to the escalating epidemic, Mr Johnson told MPs: ‘There are particular difficulties with those who are not on PAYE schemes as … I think the whole House understands.

‘We are bringing forward a package to ensure that everybody gets the support that they need.

‘I cannot, in all candour, promise the House that we will be able to get through this crisis without any kind of hardship at all.

‘We will do whatever we can to support the self-employed, just as we are putting our arms around every single employed person in this country.’

Ahead of the Chancellor’s announcement, The Daily Telegraph reported one in three self-employed workers were set to ask the Government to support their wages.

The Government is also under pressure to provide moreprotective equipment for doctors and nurses, with the number of positive UKtests rising to 9,529 at 9am on Wednesday, up from 8,077 at the same point onTuesday.

A total of 97,019 people had been tested with 87,490negative results, while the number of deaths of UK patients who tested positivefor Covid-19 increased from from 422 to 465 is a jump of 43.

The British Medical Association (BMA) warned doctors andpatients would die without adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) acrossthe NHS.

It said said there was ‘growing evidence that thousands of GPs and hospital staff are still not being provided with the kit they need to properly protect themselves and their patients’, despite Government assurances.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said millions of items ofPPE had been sent out in recent days, with a hotline set up so staff couldreport shortages.

BMA council chairman Dr Chaand Nagpaul said: ‘A construction worker wouldn’t be allowed to work without a hard hat and proper boots.

‘Even a bee-keeper wouldn’t inspect a hive without proper protective clothing.

‘And yet this Government expects NHS staff to put themselves at risk of serious illness, or even death, by treating highly infectious Covid-19 patients without wearing proper protection. This is totally unacceptable.’

Asked about the latest death toll figures, business minister Nadhim Zahawi told BBC2’s Newsnight: ‘Well, at this stage I wouldn’t interpret anything into the figures.

‘I think the Prime Minister is right to say that the message is very clear – stay at home, make sure we protect the NHS and save lives.’

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick told ITV’s Peston: ‘We need to get more PPE out to people working on the frontline, that’s in hospitals, it’s in social care, it’s in pharmacies and GPs’ surgeries.

‘We are doing that, we are ramping up efforts very significantly, we’re taking very large stocks now, over 10 million masks for example in the last few days.

‘Every social care provider in the country will get deliveries this week. We now have a PPE hotline so that those people on the front line can ring up, get the order that they desperately need.’

The economic impact of the outbreak has also brought a large spike in the number of people applying for Universal Credit.

Ministers are being urged to step-up testing forcoronavirus, especially among health workers.

But the UK’s chief medical officer dismissed suggestions a coronavirus antibody test will be ready to buy online next week.

Professor Chris Whitty said the accuracy of the tests neededto be properly tested before they were made available, and he stressed thatfrontline NHS workers would need them first so they could get back to work ifthey have already had the virus.

A national salute is set to take place to honour thehardworking NHS staff who are trying to battle coronavirus.

In a gesture of thanks to the frontline healthcare heroes, everyone across the nation has been invited to join a a mass round of applause from their doorsteps, windows and balconies today at 8pm.

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