CHANCELLOR Rishi Sunak has announced measures to help the self-employed amid the coronavirus crisis.

According to Mr Sunak, self-employed workers will be able to claim aid worth 80 per cent of their average monthly profits in an “unprecedented” move to combat the impact of coronavirus,

The Chancellor said the move – worth up to a £2,500 a month – would cover 95 per cent of self-employed workers.

The scheme comes after the Government faced increasing pressure because its original financial support package only covered employees.

Mr Sunak said: “To support those who work for themselves, I am announcing a new self-employed income support scheme.

“The Government will pay self-employed people who have been adversely affected by the coronavirus a taxable grant worth 80 per cent of their average monthly profits over the last three years, up to £2,500 a month.”

At the time of writing, positive cases of coronavirus in the UK stand at 9,849 while 578 people have died.

Meanwhile, the Home Office has warned people who continue to ignore coronavirus lockdown rules they are breaking the law and could be arrested by police.

Furthermore, criminals who deliberately cough at police officers while claiming to have coronavirus could face up to two years in prison, the country’s top prosecutor has warned.

The Bank of England has left interest rates unchanged at 0.1% after last week’s emergency action to shore up the economy.

Downing Street said the UK had become the largest contributor to the international coalition to find a coronavirus vaccine after donating £210 million in new aid funding – No10 indicated that additional coronavirus field hospitals are being considered around the UK. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said 500 of the additional 4,000 beds created in the NHS Nightingale Hospital being set up in London’s ExCeL centre will be available for use next week.

The Government has also raised the target for volunteers to help vulnerable people through the coronavirus crisis to 750,000 after more than half a million people responded to the call. NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens said almost 650,000 members of the public have signed up to volunteer for the NHS in a “most extraordinary” response.

Boris Johnson has previously warned that the self-employed may not be able to get through the coronavirus crisis “without any kind of hardship at all".

He added he wanted to get support” so they could have similar levels of protection to waged workers.