Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the risk of the Wuhan coronavirus spreading to the UK, what steps are being taken to ensure that there are sufficient face masks in production for use in any such eventuality.
We have centrally held stocks of a range of medical products, including face masks, to mitigate supply problems and help ensure the uninterrupted supply to the National Health Service. We have well established procedures to deal with supply problems, regardless of the cause, and work closely with industry, the NHS and others in the supply chain to help prevent shortages and to ensure that any risks to patients are minimised. Face masks for the general public are not recommended to protect from infection, as there is no evidence of the benefit of their use outside healthcare environments.