By Ben Kerrigan
The families of overseas NHS support staff and care workers who have lost relatives to coronavirus can stay in the UK permanently.
The Home Office bereavement scheme .has granted permission to the families of overseas Nhs support staff and care workers who have lost relative to the Coronavirus to stay in the UK permanently
Home Secretary Priti Patel has extended it to cover cleaners, porters and other low-paid roles after pressure from Labour and the unions.
The offer of indefinite leave to remain for bereaved families of support staff will be effective immediately and retrospectively, the Home Office said.
Tragedy
Ms Patel said: “Every death in this crisis is a tragedy, and sadly some NHS support staff and social care workers have made the ultimate sacrifice in the pursuit of saving the lives of others.
“When I announced the introduction of the bereavement scheme in April, I said we would continue to work across government to look at ways to offer further support.
“Today we are extending the scheme to NHS support staff and social care workers.
“We want to ensure families have the support they need and so this will be effective immediately and retrospectively.”
The announcement was welcomed as by Labour’s Yvette Cooper, who chairs the Commons home affairs committee. he described it as ”very good news”
She said her committee had been “pushing on this for weeks” adding on Twitter that it would be “unthinkable to ask family who lost a loved one on the UK Covid social care frontline to leave their home & UK”.