EMPLOYEES who are off sick due the coronavirus outbreak will be given sick pay from the first day of absence, the government has announced.

Boris Johnson said that the rules will be changed, enabling wokrers to claim Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) from day one, instead of after four days.

The announcement was made during Prime Ministers' Questions yesterday, and applies to those who have the virus as well as those who self-isolate.

Johnson said those who place themselves in quarantine are "helping to protect all of us by slowing the spread of the virus".

"If they stay at home and if we ask people to self isolate they may lose out financially," he told the Commons.

He added: " I can today announce that the Health Secretary will bring forward, as part of our emergency coronavirus legislation, measures to allow the payment of statutory sick pay from the very first day you are sick instead of four days under the current rules and I think that's the right way forward.

"Nobody should be penalised for doing the right thing."

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn welcomed the announcement but pressed the Prime Minister on whether it would apply to workers not entitled to statutory sick pay so they would not have to make the "terrible choice between health and hardship".

Mr Johnson said he was "very much aware" of issues faced by the self-employed and those on zero-hours contracts, adding that "some of them will be entitled to statutory sick pay, a great many".

He said ministers were "urgently looking" at the application process for social security payments.

The SNP's Westminster leader Ian Blackford asked Johnson to ensure there would be no sanctions for people who claim benefits if they miss appointments by being in isolation.

Marion Fellows, MP for Motherwell and Wishaw said welcomed Johnston's SSP pledge, but urged him to go further.

She said: "I am pleased that Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) will now begin from the first day of a worker’s absence instead of after four but the UK government must extend the policy further to ensure that sick pay is set at an hourly rate and available for everyone for 52 weeks instead of 28.

“Current rules around SSP are not flexible enough to meet real life needs, and fall far short of meeting a dignified standard of living – even with this new change. We must have a sick pay system fit for the 21st century which does not force people to choose between working while ill and hardship.

“Disability groups have been especially vocal in calling for an overhaul of the sick pay system. Their concerns must be factored into the UK government’s response to their sick pay consultation.

“If the UK government will not make these crucial changes then it should devolve the powers to Holyrood so it can – to meet people’s needs in Scotland and ensure their standard of living is not disadvantaged by Coronavirus or any other illness that they have contracted through no fault of their own.”

Meanwhile Carol Monaghan, the MP for Glasgow North West, suggested that parliamentarians themselves could act as "vectors" for the spread of coronavirus.

The SNP MP suggested bringing in conference call systems and other methods to allow parliament to operate fully, without MPs having to travel excessively.

She said: "We are all becoming increasingly concerned about Covid-19, the coronavirus.

"But, every week, 650 of us come here from every part of the UK, spend several days operating in close proximity and meeting people from all over the world.

"We then return to our constituencies, potentially becoming the very vectors that we're trying to shut down.

"Parliament must stay open. But what plans does the Prime Minister have to utilise systems such as conference calls and electronic voting to ensure we do not become part of the problem?"

Johnson replied: "She's raising a very important point and the Chief Medical Officer and the Chief Scientific Adviser, together with the Health Secretary, will say a little bit more in the next couple of days about what we're going to do to delay the advance of coronavirus in Parliament and at other large gatherings.

"We're still at the containment stage ... when we come to the delay phase, she'll be hearing a lot more detail about what we propose to do with large gatherings in places such as Parliament."