A city in China decided that a money giveaway would be the best motivation for people to report coronavirus symptoms to authorities as the death toll from the infection continues to grow.
The new measure is set to "incentivize" residents to report their symptoms to authorities, the disease prevention taskforce of the city of Qianjiang in central Hubei Province said in a notice on Thursday.
According to the scheme, those whose diagnosis is confirmed will be paid 10,000 yuan ($1,426). Likewise, people who cannot be immediately ruled out as having contracted the disease will be given 1,000 yuan ($142.50), while those deemed to be "suspected" cases will be paid 2,000 yuan ($285). The scheme will be effective through March 2.
Qianjiang, which is located around 150km (90 miles) from the outbreak's epicenter in Wuhan, was among the Chinese cities placed on lockdown last month.
More than 82,000 people were infected with novel coronavirus and more than 2,800 have died. The vast majority of deaths occurred in mainland China. Around 32,755 patients have recovered.
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