Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he was made aware of the suspected outbreak of covid-19 at a the Nike international conference in Edinburgh on 26 and 27 February 2020 by (a) Public Health England, (b) Public Health Scotland and (c) the Scottish Government; and if he will make a statement.

The Nike international conference held in Edinburgh on 26 and 27 February took place in accordance with scientific advice available at the time.

It was agreed by the four Chief Medical Officers ahead of the first confirmed cases of COVID-19 that each administration would announce their own cases and take their own decisions about what is appropriate to release, so this was a matter for the Scottish Government.

Public Health England (PHE) was alerted to a case associated with the Nike conference in Edinburgh on 2 March 2020.