Ministers have been accused of suppressing access to higher levels of sick pay for those isolating with Covid during the third wave. In a move critics have branded “disgusting” and said may have cost lives, the Treasury reportedly pushed back on attempts by some government workers to raise awareness of how employers could ensure higher wages for their isolating staff under the furlough scheme rather than claiming statutory sick pay. The former guarantees employees 80% of their wages up to £2,500 every month, while the latter is capped at £96.35 per week. Downing Street has not denied the report. According to Politico, a series of leaked emails between civil servants sent during the first two months of 2021 show concerns were raised that the Treasury was “reluctant” to explicitly explain to companies that the potentially much-more-generous furlough scheme could be used to temporarily cover self-isolation. “This is a live issue being worked through,” one official noted, adding that “incentive payments are too low to incentivise employees to take tests due to risk of loss of income”. The revelation will pile pressure on the government to increase the financial support offered to people who are self-isolating, so that more people are encouraged to stay at home if they have tested positive for Covid or been contact traced. Last month, the Guardian also revealed concerns raised by the Equality and Human Rights Commission that levels of statutory sick pack could be deterring some staff from getting vaccinated, in case they had to take any time off work to recover from side-effects. On Thursday Boris Johnson’s spokesman did not dispute the reported actions of Treasury officials, though stressed that the furlough scheme is “not intended for short-term absences from work due to sickness”. He added that “self-isolation should not be a consideration when deciding if a business should furlough an employee” and pointed to the £500 one-off payment for those on low-incomes forced to isolate. The Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, said he was “really concerned” by the development. He said: “Self-isolation is a huge tool in the armoury when it comes to defeating the pandemic, but too many people felt that they couldn’t afford to self-isolate,” he told reporters. “We have been saying this for a year or more, so the idea now that this has been suppressed I think is so wrong in terms of how we fight this pandemic.” Joe Clarke, a national officer at the Unite union, said: “This revelation is absolutely disgusting and demonstrates that the government acted recklessly with the safety of workers. “The government cynically suppressed this information from businesses at a time when over 1,000 people a day were dying from Covid.” “This decision will have cost lives, led to increased infections and meant that successive lockdowns have lasted longer than necessary, further damaging the economy.” Dr Philippa Whitford, the Scottish National party’s Westminster health spokesperson, also branded the move “absolute madness” and warned it will have “increased the spread of the virus and endangered lives”. She called on ministers to apologise, and said: “The Tory government has spent months forcing workers into hardship in the middle of the biggest public health and economic crisis we have ever seen.” The Treasury said the guidance on access to furlough had always been clear. A spokesperson said: “It has always been clear that the purpose of the furlough scheme is to support jobs – we’ve been upfront about that from the start. “The guidance sets out that the scheme is not intended for short-term absences from work due to sickness or self-isolation. “We have a specific support package in place for those self-isolating due to coronavirus, including £500 one-off payments for those on low incomes. “If an employer wants to furlough an employee for business reasons and they are currently off sick then they are eligible to do so as with other employees. This has been set out in guidance since April last year.”