Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many hospital intensive care beds there were as at 11 March 2020; what estimate he has made of how many additional hospital intensive care beds could be created and normally staffed within one month of 11 March 2020; and what estimate he has made of the number of patients diagnosed with covid-19 who will require intensive care at the peak of the outbreak under (a) best case, (b) anticipated case and (c) worst case scenarios modelled by the Government.

Information based on current number of intensive care beds and estimated additional requirements due to the COVID-19 outbreak is not held centrally. The National Health Service has an Operating Framework for Managing the Response to Pandemic Influenza in place which sets out the roles, responsibilities and functions of NHS England in preparing for and responding to an influenza pandemic. It is intended to complement and support existing plans, policies and arrangements.

Among those who become infected, we believe some will exhibit no symptoms. Early data suggest that of those who develop an illness, the great majority will have a mild-to-moderate, but self-limiting illness – similar to seasonal flu. It is, however, also clear that a minority of people who get COVID-19 will develop complications severe enough to require hospital care, most often pneumonia, in some instances sadly leading to death.

The United Kingdom Government and devolved administrations, including the health and social care system, have planned extensively over the years for an event like this. The UK is therefore well prepared to respond in a way that offers substantial protection to the public.