# Coronavirus COVID-19 (2019-nCoV) Thread - 2020 Breaking News **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [February 11, 2020, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758 "2020-02-11T01:16:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 2962
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2020, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/2962 "2020-05-05T01:26:40Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > A stat from the UK which slightly blew my mind. The Job Retention Scheme came into force on 20th April. This allows employers to furlough employees, with the government picking up 80% of their wages (with a limit of £2500 p/m). > > As of 3rd May, almost of a quarter of the entire UK workforce is now on the scheme. That’s quite the intervention by the Treasury. > > [https://twitter.com/HMRCgovuk/status/1257324798847451136](https://twitter.com/HMRCgovuk/status/1257324798847451136) > [@psychonaut](#): > > It’s the same proportion in Austria: the size of the workforce is 4.6 million, and 1.2 million positions (about 26% of the total) are furloughed. There’s a similar program in Australia, called [JobKeeper.](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-20/australia-coronavirus-jobkeer-payments-open/12164242) I’m not finding any hard numbers on how many are in it at the moment. In this scheme, businesses are subsidized to pay their employees $1500/fortnight, whether or not the business is actually open and operating, so long as there has been a significant downturn in the business’s income. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758)._