Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish data on (a) the causes of increasing rates of hospitalisations among children with covid-19 and (b) the number of cases for which covid-19 was the primary cause of hospitalisation for children admitted to hospital.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) does not collect data on the causes of increasing hospitalisation rates among children with COVID-19, therefore there are no plans for the publication of this data.

The UKHSA collects data on the number of cases for which COVID-19 was the reason for hospitalisation in all age groups, including children, through the Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) Watch surveillance system. This data is not currently validated, however the UKHSA is considering including this data in future published reports as percentage figures.