Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential (a) risks and (b) merits of allowing travellers with proof of recovery from covid-19 to be subject to the same rules for testing and isolation as vaccinated arrivals to the UK.
Our current assessment remains that the available evidence does not support recognising natural immunity as a substitute for vaccination. Whilst natural infection may provide some protection against reinfection, it cannot be relied upon to protect unvaccinated people from reinfection by variants of concern (VOCs) or to prevent the further mutation of VOCs. We will continue to review any emerging evidence to inform future decisions.