Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Government's commitment to expedite access to antiviral treatment for people at high risk from covid-19, what estimate he has made of the number of PCR tests sent to people in that category.

In England, approximately 1.3 million individuals have been pre-identified as potentially eligible under the clinical access policy for new treatments to reduce the risk of deterioration or hospitalisation from COVID-19 infection.  These patients have been notified by email or by letter, depending on the patient's contact preferences. Newly eligible patients can be referred by their general practitioner, NHS 111 or their hospital doctor, should they test positive for COVID-19. As of 7 January 2022, an estimated 1.26 million priority polymerase chain reaction test kits had been sent to patients in England who are in the highest risk group.