Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason the covid-19 testing protocol differs between care homes and Housing with Care facilities.

We initially prioritised testing for care homes that specialise in caring for older people and those living with dementia based on Public Health England (PHE) and the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergency (SAGE) advice, as they are at higher risk of adverse consequences if they get the disease.

We have subsequently made asymptomatic testing available to some extra care and supported living setting when they are identified as higher risks - for instance due to their similarity to a care home by local Directors of Public Health. This is based on advice from PHE and SAGE. We rolled out an initial round of testing to extra care and supported living settings that were referred by Directors of Public Health as meeting certain risk-based criteria.

People in all settings can access testing if they have symptoms.