Re: Bah, scumbugs
Well similarly soldiers are hired to fight, so why pay them a bonus when they are putting their lives at risk?
True enough. Recruiting posters notwithstanding, anyone who joins the army to "see the world" is a fool, soldiers are there to shoot people and get shot at, and there's no reason that I can see why they should be paid more when that happens.
I suppose it's better PR to add "combat pay" (or "operational allowance" as the UK calls it) rather than reduce their wages for "hanging about with nothing to do" in peacetime.
The morality and pragmatism should be clearer still - who is going to care for you when nurses are off sick or deceased?
You seem to assume that they only do it for the money, which I doubt. It's a vocation, they do it because they want to and the risk of getting sick is just part of the job. It could happen any time, not just when there's a pandemic.
There are billions being paid to friends of Tories for dubious contracts
Don't play silly party political games, you cheapen your argument.