Covid-19 Update

Debate between Matt Hancock and Pat McFadden

Tuesday 20th October 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

Yes, we have been working very closely with the Tees Valley. The level 2 restrictions there were not something that we put into place lightly, but we followed the data. We will continue to follow the data and take the action that is needed—but only the action that is needed—and to engage with my hon. Friend and with the Mayor of Tees Valley, who is rising above party politics to do the right thing for the Tees Valley. The point that I would make to my hon. Friend, in addition to the points that he made, is that the impact on mental health is undoubtedly worse if the virus gets out of control, even though the measures that are taken are difficult ones. The Royal College of Psychiatrists has been very clear that the best thing for mental health is for us to keep the virus under control, although of course we need to mitigate the consequences that flow from the measures we sometimes have to take.

[Mr Pat McFadden (Wolverhampton South East) (Lab)]

Today marks a low point in the handling of this situation. Instead of reuniting people behind their approach, the Government have imposed this decision, leaving a bitter taste. There are other decisions still to come, and other regions are watching what has happened today, including my own in the west midlands. Can the Secretary of State assure the House that, as significant economic support is withdrawn at the end of this month, any decision on whether national restrictions are required will not be taken because that is cheaper and a means of avoiding adequate support for the businesses and workers concerned, because if that is the case, the public health measures and the economic measures will be pulling in two different directions?

Covid-19

Debate between Matt Hancock and Pat McFadden

Monday 16th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

On the latter point, the chief medical officer has set out today that immunity is built up by having had this virus. That evidence is constantly being kept under review, but immunity does appear to be built up. On the testing point, as I said to the right hon. Member for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford (Yvette Cooper), of course we want tests to be available for everyone. Our goal is to beat this virus. We want to make sure that all our frontline medical staff can have the testing and that everyone in the community can have those tests, but where only a limited number of tests are available we have to use them to save life. I am working as fast as I can to increase the number.

[Mr Pat McFadden (Wolverhampton South East) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State said that this was a national effort and he is right, but it is more than that; this is a global crisis that has seen different approaches taken in different countries. Does he not accept that we need stronger, co-ordinated, global leadership, both on the health front and on the economic front, to get the best possible response to this global crisis?

[Matt Hancock]

I half agree with the right hon. Gentleman, and that is because I think that international co-ordination is important—I have been participating in regular G7 calls, as have the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer—but different countries are also in different places on the curve. For instance, we have introduced measures such as these earlier on the curve than similar countries, such as France and Germany.

Coronavirus

Debate between Matt Hancock and Pat McFadden

Wednesday 11th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

There are different types of social distancing. There is what is essentially case isolation, which is where somebody has symptoms and we are asking them to self-isolate. At the moment, if somebody has moderate or heavy symptoms, they should self-isolate, and we have talked about going, at the right time, to self-isolation—staying at home—for people with mild symptoms. There is also, of course, the need to ensure that older people and vulnerable people, for whom this virus has a bigger impact, can get the right advice on self-isolating, and that is something we are working on.

Here the timing really is critical, because the evidence of past epidemics and past crises of this nature shows that people do tire of these sorts of social distancing measures, so if we start them too early, they lose their effect and actually it is worse. The social science and the behavioural science are a very important part of the scientific advice that we rely on.

[Mr Pat McFadden (Wolverhampton South East) (Lab)]

One of the questions in the public’s mind is the degree of resistance acquired by those who have contracted the virus and then recovered. I appreciate that this is more a question for his medical and scientific advisers than directly for him, but could the Secretary of State give us any information on the degree of resistance acquired by those who have been through the virus and come out the other side?

[Matt Hancock]

I asked the chief medical officer this precise question this morning, so I can report to the right hon. Member what the chief medical officer says is the answer to this question. The degree of resistance is deemed to be very high, especially in the first year or more afterwards, for similar coronaviruses, and is therefore likely to be very high for this one. It is good news that it is highly likely that once people have got it and recovered, they are going to be okay. That is obviously good news for people who have had it, including our hon. Friend the Member for Mid Bedfordshire.