Food: Coronavirus

(asked on 1st October 2020) - View Source

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 accuracy of the Health and Safety Executive's Riddor reporting system of the number of covid-19 cases and fatalities in food factories; and what steps he is taking to ensure that records of covid-19 (a) cases and (b) fatalities in food factories are accurate.


Answered by
Jo Churchill Portrait
Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This question was answered on 5th November 2020

Public Health England (PHE) has made no assessment of the accuracy of the Health and Safety Executive’s Riddor reporting system.

Positive tests are notifiable under the Health Protection Regulations 2010, as amended by the Health Protection (Notification) (Amended) Regulations 2020. Under this regulation diagnostic laboratories have a duty to notify PHE when they identify evidence of infection caused by COVID-19. PHE regularly works with labs to help them set up reporting. PHE has published a guide for reporting which is available to view at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/739854/PHE_Laboratory_Reporting_Guidelines.pdf

Data on cases and fatalities from COVID-19 in relation to food factories are not collected.

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