Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to recent trends in the level of covid-19 infections, what steps her Department is taking to prevent further spread of that virus.

We continue to monitor prevalence of COVID-19 and other related factors, such as hospitalisations and deaths. Surveillance indicators suggest that COVID-19 activity has increased in most indicators. However, the success of the COVID-19 vaccination and booster programme and the availability of antivirals has ensured there is a lower risk of severe illness or hospitalisation.

We are protecting those at high risk of illness from COVID-19 by making free testing available in high-risk settings. In August 2022, prevalence was low therefore asymptomatic testing in high-risk settings was removed. However, this is kept under review.