Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the scientific and statistical evidence is on the effect of hand washing and surface hygiene on the spread of covid-19 in the UK.

A rapid review of the literature undertaken by Public Health Scotland (15 May 2020) concluded that hand hygiene should be performed with soap and water or, when hands are not visibly soiled, with alcohol based hand rub and that due to the uncertainty regarding the environmental survivability of SARS-CoV-2 in real-life conditions, it is essential that the environment is clutter free and frequency of routine cleaning is increased, particularly frequently-touched surfaces.

This review is available at the following link:

https://hpspubsrepo.blob.core.windows.net/hps-website/nss/2985/documents/1_covid-19-rapid-review-ipc-for-covid-19.pdf