During the Covid-19 pandemic, new measures allow unpaid carers to continue to claim Carer’s Allowance if they have a temporary break in caring, because they or the person they care for gets coronavirus or if they have to isolate because of it.

Department for Communities has also confirmed that providing emotional support counts towards the Carer’s Allowance threshold of 35 hours of care a week. This applies to:

- Carers who live in a different household from the person they care for and whose only contact with them is now going to be in the form of emotional support via the telephone and social media