Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has assessed the potential risk of transmission of covid-19 between visually impaired people and their guides

We have issued guidance on how to be supported by others outside your home in a way which limits the spread of COVID-19. This is available as part of the guidance at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-people-outside-of-their-home/supporting-people-outside-of-their-home

The guidance has been developed to permit support, including guiding, to be given whilst mitigating the risk of transmission as far as possible. The evidence considered by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies and used to support the government response to COVID-19 is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/scientific-evidence-supporting-the-government-response-to-coronavirus-covid-19