Coronavirus: Disease Control

(asked on 21st July 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with which (a) companies and (b) organisations Minsters of his Department have held discussions on health passports and their use in the Government’s covid-19 strategy.


Answered by
Nadine Dorries Portrait
Nadine Dorries
This question was answered on 1st September 2020

A number of technology companies and other organisations have approached the Department regarding certification schemes or ‘health passports’. These include Mischon De Reya, Yoti, IBM and Google Venture.

In our response to any proposals, the Department has made clear that before considering whether certification linked to a test result (antibody or virus test) could ever be used to lessen or exempt individuals from specific measures, we need to be confident in our understanding of how the immune system responds to infection with the COVID-19 virus and how long that response lasts.

We need to be sure of what the science will allow us to do and what the policy on certification should be based on that evidence, before considering what technology could underpin any scheme.

Reticulating Splines