Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the impact of the ending of free covid-19 testing on sickness related absences of staff in the public sector.

No specific assessment has been made. However, free testing has been retained for eligible individuals, including in the public sector. As of 1 June 2022, the Office for National Statistics’ infection survey estimated that the number of people testing positive for COVID-19 has been declining since early April.