National's proposal to pay full wages for people self-isolating is a welcome one, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union.

Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, “It's a version of what we proposed last year in our first COVID-19 briefing paper, published prior to the lockdown or wage subsidy announcements:"

Eliminating the economic motivation to work while unwell is essential to limiting the spread of the disease such that our medical system will be able to cope. Likewise, it is prudent to minimise any financial incentive on employers to ask their employees to take risks and come to work.

“Spending money to lock down contacts within a cluster will be far more affordable than dealing with a wider outbreak.”

“Even though the Government is talking down the proposal, they have a track record of adopting common-sense ideas on COVID-19 a few weeks after those ideas are raised by the Opposition, so we’re optimistic that will happen here.”

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