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 increase the availability of coronavirus tests for people who live in the same household as an NHS worker.

The Government’s Testing Strategy, titled ‘Coronavirus (COVID-19): scaling up testing programmes’, was published on 4 April and outlined the Government’s approach and strategy for COVID-19 in the United Kingdom. Since then, the Government has been working to implement the plans, including expanding testing capacity and expanding eligibility based on a clear rationale that includes clinical need and understanding how the virus is moving through the population, to support the focusing of resources.

Currently, all National Health Service staff (with and without COVID-19 symptoms) are eligible for testing, in line with NHS England guidance. Anyone who has symptoms of COVID-19 and lives with NHS or other essential workers is also eligible for testing.