Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department has taken to raise awareness of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus.

Public Health England (PHE) has worked closely with the National Travel Health Network and Centre (NaTHNaC) to raise awareness of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV). There is detailed information and advice for travellers on how to protect themselves from infection, and how to access medical care if they feel unwell on their return to the United Kingdom. This advice can be accessed via the NaTHNaC and PHE websites.

Additionally PHE has developed posters providing travel advice to raise awareness of MERS-CoV and provide advice on how to reduce the risk of infection. These posters are available on the PHE website and have also been distributed through PHE social network platforms, and shared with airports and air carriers. There is also specific advice provided for people attending the Hajj.

PHE has worked with national, local and ethnic media to raise awareness of MERS-CoV with press releases, social media activity, and provision of expert spokespeople. This has been both proactive, emphasising travel advice for travellers to the Middle East, and also reactive – providing information and clarification about public safety following imported cases of MERS-CoV in the UK.