UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock has admitted he could not live on statutory sick pay, but suggested an improvement could come with fresh measures to tackle the coronavirus crisis.
The Cabinet minister bluntly dismissed the prospect with a "no" when he was asked on BBC's Question Time if he could get by on the sum of £94.25 per week.
But he suggested more on the subject could come when Chancellor Rishi Sunak makes a further announcement on financial measures to tackle the economic fallout from the pandemic on Friday.
"I'm not going to prejudge what the Chancellor's going to say tomorrow, but all I can say is: mark my words, we will do everything we can to make sure people are supported through this," he said.
Sunak was under increasing pressure to announce measures to support workers and renters after announcing Government-backed loans worth £330 billion to shore up companies.
The Government has already made sure sick payments are delivered to workers earlier, but the statuary sum has come under fresh scrutiny over whether it is sufficient.
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There are fears workers may not self-isolate with Covid-19 symptoms to halt the spread because they do not want to take the financial blow of lost wages.
The Health Secretary's comments came during the first Question Time to be filmed without a studio audience as the BBC followed advice over social distancing.
He also tried to allay doctors' fears that they are lacking the protective equipment and ventilators they needed to deal with the coronavirus crisis.
A junior doctor in Weston-super-Mare told him her colleagues are "frightened" of ending up in a situation similar to Italy's in a few weeks and asked how equipment would be rationed when the NHS becomes "overwhelmed".
Hancock said a "massive effort" was under way to deliver personal protective equipment to NHS staff and social care providers.
"I can tell you that over the last 24 hours we've shipped 2.6 million masks, 10,000 bottles of hand sanitiser, and we have a growing effort to get that equipment to the frontline," he said.
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"Overnight we're going to get 150 hospitals the next pack of protective equipment that they need. We've got all this in storage in case there's a pandemic like this and there are literally lorries on the road right now.
"Some hospitals will get it overnight tonight and then the rest will get their next load before the end of the weekend."
The Cabinet minister assured that the Government has had an "amazing response" to a call-out for manufacturers to turn their efforts to make ventilators, which are seen as essential to saving lives from Covid-19.
He said 1400 companies have come forward to say they are able to turn their capabilities to the task.
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