Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment have they made of the latest studies about seroprevalence on antibodies and the implications of these results for future immunity from COVID-19.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Control of COVID-19 requires the ability to detect asymptomatic and mild infections, that would not present to healthcare and would otherwise remain undetected through existing surveillance systems. This is important to determine the number of infections within the general population to understand transmission and to allow estimations of infection fatality and infection hospitalisation ratios.
Public Health England (PHE) is undertaking several studies on sero-prevalence in England, using samples from a range of sources, including the PHE seroepidemiology unit, the Royal College of General Practitioners, the ‘What’s the STORY’ study and NHS Blood and Transplant. PHE seroprevalence results are published weekly in the PHE surveillance report. A copy of the latest Weekly Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Surveillance Report: Summary of COVID-19 surveillance systems (published 19 June 2020) is attached.
There is good evidence that most people infected develop an antibody response. Work is continuing in PHE to understand whether the immune response to infection prevents reinfection, and if so how long any protection may last.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (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 use of Tocilizumab in the treatment of patients with COVID-19.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Chief Medical Officer has advised that treatment given for COVID-19 other than general supportive care, treatment for underlying conditions, and antibiotics for secondary bacterial complications, should currently be as part of a trial, where that is possible.
The Medicines and Healthcare products regulatory Agency (MHRA) is working closely with the Department and others in the global response to COVID-19 and is prioritising review of applications relating to COVID-19 in response to this public health emergency.
There have been three United Kingdom clinical trials authorised that include investigation of Tocilizumab for treatment of COVID-19. The UK clinical trials are currently underway but have not been completed, and no conclusions have been reached on the safety and effectiveness of this medicine to treat COVID-19.
The Commission on Human Medicines has convened a COVID-19 Expert Working Group that meets on a regular basis to review the latest developments and advise the MHRA on its regulatory implications.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (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 use of Remdesivir in the treatment of patients with COVID-19.
Answered by Lord Bethell
On 26 May 2020, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) issued a positive Scientific Opinion through the Early Access to Medicines Scheme for the use of remdesivir in United Kingdom patients. This informs prescribers on the use of remdesivir across the UK in the treatment of adults and adolescents hospitalised with severe COVID-19 infection who meet additional clinical criteria.
Several clinical trials to evaluate remdesivir and its possible effects on patients with COVID-19 have already been approved by the MHRA and are ongoing in the UK. Currently the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use is considering an application for a conditional marketing authorisation for remdesivir through the European Centralised procedure, and the UK has contributed to the discussions.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to communicate with those groups most likely to break social distancing guidelines.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Government's COVID-19 public information campaign has evolved throughout the course of the pandemic. Campaign activity is informed by a solid evidence base and delivered across a range of channels and formats to maximise the reach of messaging and the adoption of critical public health actions. This includes tailored and upweighted activity for audiences who need additional motivation or support to adhere to social distancing guidelines.
The campaign has included television, digital and social media, press, radio, outdoor posters, PR and partnership activity in all four nations of the United Kingdom. We have also used daily press briefings, SMS texts and a letter from the Prime Minister to all households in the UK.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that BAME people are adequately represented in COVID-19 clinical trials.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Department, through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), is working in partnership with the Centre for Black and Minority Ethnic Health in Leicester to ensure that black, Asian and minority ethnic communities have the information they need to take part and stay informed about COVID-19 research. The NIHR also requires a limited amount of demographic data on participants in all prioritized urgent COVID-19 studies to be collected to ensure recruitment is representative of the population. It is also actively supporting researchers to tackle the barriers that might stop some communities participating.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how long it will take, under the test and trace service, to trace people's contacts following a COVID-19 test; and what assessment they have made of whether this is quick enough to isolate people before infection spreads.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Government launched its new NHS Test and Trace service on 28 May 2020.
If someone experiences symptoms of COVID-19 and gets tested, systems are in place to ensure that the NHS Test and Trace service automatically receives information if their test result is positive. Providing NHS Test and Trace have contact details, such as email, text or landline, they will aim to contact people within 24 hours of receiving the test result.
The more rapidly we can identify people who may have been at risk of infection and, if necessary, tell them to self-isolate, the more effectively we can reduce the R rate and the spread of the virus and maintain transmission at low levels.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to establish a permanent body to (1) seek to avert future pandemics, and (2) ensure affordable, widespread availability of vaccines and therapies to treat COVID-19 as they become available.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The United Kingdom believes that the World Health Organization (WHO) has an important role to play in leading the health response to COVID-19 and in longer term leadership in global health including preparedness. We also want to see WHO continue to learn lessons on how to improve its response to global health emergencies and as such would expect a full review of all elements of their response once they are out of response mode, as has occurred after previous Public Health Emergencies of International Concern. The UK intends to engage constructively with a future review, including working with other governments.
Since 2017, we have, through the Department’s Global Health Security Programme, used our public health expertise to provide technical support to countries. This technical support and knowledge sharing helps build resilient public health care systems to prevent, detect and respond to disease and to better manage future public health emergencies including pandemics.
The UK supports strong mechanisms to promote equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, treatments and diagnostics. At the Global Vaccine Summit on 4 June 2020, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, launched a new Advance Market Commitment (AMC) for COVID-19 vaccines aimed at incentivising vaccine manufacturers to produce sufficient quantities of eventual COVID-19 vaccines, and to ensure access for developing countries with a primary focus on subsidising vaccines for the poorest countries. The UK committed £48 million to the AMC at the Summit.
In addition, the UK supported AstraZeneca’s announcement at the Summit of a $750 million agreement with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and Gavi to support the manufacturing, procurement and distribution of 300 million vaccine doses globally this year, including for the world’s poorest countries. AstraZeneca also announced a deal with the Serum Institute of India to manufacture a further 1 billion doses for distribution to developing countries.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many antibodies have been identified which have had a neutralising effect on the COVID-19 virus.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Characterisation of neutralising antibodies is still in its infancy. The role of neutralising antibodies in providing treatment or as a marker for protection against reinfection is not yet fully understood. Scientists at Public Health England and elsewhere are working in this area, and conclusions will be reported in scientific journals as new evidence emerges.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (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 effect of low dose radiation in the treatment of COVID-19.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Chest X-rays or chest computed tomography scans are frequently performed for radiological lung assessments during which patients may be exposed to low doses of ionising radiation. Public Health England has not undertaken any specific assessment of the value of this diagnostic approach in the management of COVID-19. Medical exposure to ionising radiation is justified by the clinical team providing care on the basis that the benefit outweighs any potential risks to health.
There have been suggestions in the scientific literature that low dose radiation exposure of the lungs may be an effective treatment for COVID-19 related pneumonia, but this has yet to be proven.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to change the COVID-19 social distancing guidance from two metres.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The plans to change the COVID-19 social distancing guidance from two metres is under constant review. The Government continues to encourage two metre social distancing wherever that is possible.
In easing the lockdown, the Government accepts that maintaining two metre social distancing may be difficult in certain circumstances and will be issuing updated workplace guidance to address that and, subject to legislation, is mandating the use of face coverings on public transport from 15 June.
The Government collaborates closely with Public Health England to ensure guidance on two metre social distancing is kept up to date as regulations change in light of latest medical and scientific evidence.