• The British government has announced incentives worth $ 6 billion to help companies get past the new lockdown aimed at curbing the spread of a different strain of COVID-19.
• Retail, hospitality, and entertainment businesses will receive one-time grants of up to $ 12,200, plus an extended vacation plan.
• „Today, we announce an additional cash injection to support businesses and jobs until spring,“ Chancellor Rishi Sunak said in a statement.
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On Tuesday, the British government announced a new financial aid package worth nearly £ 5 billion for companies worst affected by the latest shutdown aimed at curbing the spread of an aggressive new type of COVID-19 virus.

The UK has entered another national lockdown, including school closures, in light of the emergence of a new strain of COVID-19 that has led to record infection rates and a spike in deaths Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Monday night he was threatening to overwhelm the United States. Healthy service.

The Treasury Department said it will pay one-off grants of 4.6 billion pounds ($ 6.2 billion) to companies in the retail, hospitality and entertainment sectors to support them over the coming weeks of full shutdown.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak said the goal is to help preserve jobs to ensure workers are ready to return when the economy reopens.

“The new strain of virus is a huge challenge for all of us – and while the vaccine was rolled out, we needed to tighten restrictions,” Sonak said at statement.

He said, „During the pandemic, we took swift action to protect lives and livelihoods, and today we announce an additional cash injection to support businesses and jobs until spring.“

Britain has the worst COVID-19 death rate in Europe, with around 75,000 deaths.

The Treasury Department said the grants would be worth up to 9,000 pounds ($ 12,200) for each property in the sector, with a 594 million pounds ($ 806 million) provision of a discretionary fund to support other businesses affected.

Late last year, the government extended its current vacation plan until spring.

The pound rose against the dollar after the announcement, to trade up 0.1% on the day around $ 1.3582.