UK chancellor Rishi Sunak said self-employed people facing financial difficulties can get 80% of their monthly wages covered by the government, as he unveiled a rescue package to help cope with lost income amid a near-shutdown of the economy due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Sunak told self-employed musicians, taxi drivers, hairdressers and child-care workers anxious about losing their livelihoods that the government was working to help them.