NSW Covid-19 Delta outbreak: Residents could be paid to get tested, isolate

NSW residents could be given a one-off cash payment when they get tested for Covid and isolate for three days under a new plan being considered by the NSW Government.

Residents in Greater Sydney could soon be paid to get a Covid test and isolate for up to three days under a new plan to bolster the state’s testing rates.

The proposal, which senior Liberal sources say has been “talked about for several weeks”, comes as the deadly Covid-19 Delta strain continues to ravage the city’s southwest and western suburbs with a record number of cases announced on Thursday.

There are currently more than 2512 active cases in the community after a record-breaking 239 locally acquired cases were recorded to 8pm on July 28.

Residents are tested at a drive through Covid-19 testing clinic at Blacktown International Sportspark. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Damian Shaw

Multiple government sources revealed to NewsLocal that the NSW Government had been in discussions over the payment plan for testing and isolation payments, with Service NSW representatives told to “ensure systems were in place” to roll out the payment following an imminent government announcement.

“The proposal for a Covid testing and isolation payment scheme has been floated several times in Crisis Cabinet,” the source said.

The Victorian Government currently provides residents with a $450 payment to “financially support” workers who are required to self-isolate after a Covid test while they await results.

Another government source raised concerns over the payment plan costing “as much as $300 million a week” — if the program matches the Victorian payment — as more than 671,000 people have come forward for testing in the last week alone across the state.

In Victoria, anyone over 17 who misses out on work following a Covid test is eligible for the payment and are required to provide evident of eligibility — people caught out of isolation during the period are required to pay the funds back.

Health workers prepare to get Covid-19 test samples from the residents at a drive through testing site in Sydney. (Photo by Saeed KHAN / AFP)

Meanwhile in the ACT, a Covid hardship isolation payment for anyone tested has been in place since August last year.

Casual, part-time, full-time workers and self-employed people are all eligible for a $270 payment for three days in isolation after testing.

If further isolation is required before results are issued, residents in the ACT are eligible for an additional $90 daily payment.

A spokesman for Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello said the Minister has no comment on the proposed payment.