Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that care workers in private companies have access to regular covid-19 testing during the covid-19 outbreak.

Regular testing is available for all staff working in registered care homes, including agency staff. Regular testing is also available for domiciliary care staff, and those working in higher risk extra care and supported living settings. Testing on the door is also available for visiting professionals to care homes.

We have now sent out over 20 million test kits to care homes. On 25 January 2021 we announced the approval for care home staff to conduct lateral flow tests at home before they arrive at the care home to start work and therefore further increasing the capacity for regular COVID-19 testing. We will continue to review our social care testing strategy for adult social care in light of the latest evidence and available capacity.