Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to promote nutritional and healthy living advice during and after the COVID-19 pandemic; and how will they ensure that any advice is (1) positive, and (2) accessible.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Public Health England has updated channels such as Change4Life, Start4Life and One You, to make them consistent with the wider COVID-19 advice and advice on healthier eating.
Change4Life is supporting families with children with a range of simple healthy recipes, 10 Minute Shake Up indoor games and healthy snacking tips and ideas. This material and more is available online at Change4Life, newsletters and social media.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the minimum turnaround time for the NHS test and trace results to be processed; and what assessment they have made of whether that time is fast enough to isolate outbreaks before further people become infected.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Government launched its new NHS Test and Trace service on 28 May 2020. Anyone with symptoms of COVID-19 is eligible for a free test and should book one as soon as their symptoms start. The contact tracing process starts as soon as NHS Test and Trace receive notification that someone has tested positive for COVID-19. People identified as having been in close contact with someone who has had a positive test will be contacted and told to stay at home for 14 days, even if they do not have symptoms, to minimise the risk that they unknowingly spread the virus.
The majority of tests at Regional Testing Centres and Mobile Testing Units are returned within 24 hours, with 90% returned within 48 hours. Other than postal tests and other insuperable problems, all tests will be turned around within 24 hours by the end of June.
We are tracing the contacts of thousands of positive cases, using both online services and over the phone, and we are encouraged by the progress so far. In total, since 28 May to 10 June 2020, 72.6% (10,192) of the people who tested positive for COVID-19 were reached by our contact tracers and asked to share details of their close contacts. 90.6% (87,639) of close contacts were reached and advised to self-isolate.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people have been (1) tracked, and (2) traced, for each day since the launch of the current scheme; and how many people have been advised to self-isolate for 14 days as a result. [T]
Answered by Lord Bethell
Data on the number of people tracked and traced as part of the NHS Test and Trace programme are not available in the format requested.
The Department publishes weekly experimental statistics from the NHS Test and Trace service in England. Figures include contact tracing undertaken online, by local health protection teams and by contact tracing staff.
The data shows that between 28 May and 10 June 2020 14,045 people who tested positive for COVID-19 had their case transferred to the contact tracing system, of whom 10,192 were asked to provide details of recent contacts. 96,746 contacts were identified and of these 87,639 were reached and advised to self-isolate.
A copy of Experimental Statistics Weekly NHS Test and Trace bulletin, England: 28 May – 10 June 2020 is attached.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of posted COVID-19 tests for each day of distribution have been successfully returned to an authorised laboratory for evaluation.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Home testing has been expanded over several weeks from the initial piloting phase, through to the large-scale ramp up where thousands of home tests are available on a daily basis. As at 8 May over 134,000 home tests have been dispatched and more than 105,000 completed samples have been collected and this number increases daily.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether COVID-19 will be (1) endemic, or (2) eliminated.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Total eradication of COVID-19 globally is unlikely (unless there is some unexpected biological change in the virus). Elimination nationally (i.e. bringing the number of locally acquired cases to zero) may be possible transiently but is highly unlikely to be possible permanently. Though other countries appear to have eliminated the virus locally, it is still early in the epidemic and the virus is very likely to reappear in these countries. Instead of eradication/elimination, a realistic public health goal would be to have very good control of transmission so that the number of new cases, and therefore the disease burden, is very low.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risks of secondary outbreaks of COVID-19; and what guidance they have (1) prepared, and (2) provided to local authorities, about the steps to be taken should such secondary outbreaks occur.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The incubation period for COVID-19 is one–14 days (the median incubation period is five days). As set out by the First Secretary of State (Rt. Hon. Dominic Raab MP) on 16 April, there are five tests which underpin Government decisions on adjusting measures to control the virus. These include confidence that changes will not lead to a second peak of infections. As the Government adjusts the lockdown measures, it will closely monitor key indicators, including the rate of infection and local outbreaks, and will react accordingly.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, in view of the delay between the transmission of COVID-19 and the appearance of symptoms, what estimate they have made of the minimum response time between the occurrence and detection of any secondary outbreak of COVID-19.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The incubation period for COVID-19 is one–14 days (the median incubation period is five days). As set out by the First Secretary of State (Rt. Hon. Dominic Raab MP) on 16 April, there are five tests which underpin Government decisions on adjusting measures to control the virus. These include confidence that changes will not lead to a second peak of infections. As the Government adjusts the lockdown measures, it will closely monitor key indicators, including the rate of infection and local outbreaks, and will react accordingly.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce (1) regional, and (2) local, differences in the restrictions in place to address the COVID-19 pandemic; and if they have any such plans, what will be the maximum level of difference permitted.
Answered by Lord Bethell
We are currently considering multiple options for addressing the COVID-19 pandemic in the mid- to long-term, including the implementation of tailoring Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions to the regional and local level. Any decisions on how to approach the mid- to long-term strategy to address the pandemic will be led by the science and build on the Government’s track and trace strategy.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what contractual arrangements are in place for personal protective equipment procurement for (1) the NHS, and (2) care services, in the event of national emergencies.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Department is leading the sourcing of personal protective equipment (PPE) for the National Health Service, social care and the wider public sector from both existing and new suppliers. We have set up a cross-Government PPE sourcing unit to secure new supply lines from across the world and published rigorous standards against which we will buy.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether there are preferred provider arrangements in place for the procurement of personal protective equipment for (1) the NHS, and (2) care services.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Department is leading the sourcing of personal protective equipment (PPE) for the National Health Service, social care and the wider public sector from both existing and new suppliers. We have set up a cross-Government PPE sourcing unit to secure new supply lines from across the world and published rigorous standards against which we will buy.