argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-17
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): I will write to my hon. Friend immediately with our plans for the roll-out of primary care-based vaccination facilities in Aylesbury. I regret having to put Buckinghamshire into tier 3 measures, but unfortunately it was absolutely necessary on the numbers. Aylesbury Vale, the local authority area, has a case rate of 235 per 100,000 and it is rising really sharply, and my hon. Friend has set out the challenges at Stoke Mandeville, which is an excellent hospital but under significant pressure. I am glad that he understands why we have had to take this decision and I hope that across Buckinghamshire we can get these cases down and get people vaccinated as soon as possible.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-17
Topic: Health
William Peter Wragg (Conservative, Centre-right): It being Christmas, and given the circumstances that we are in, covid-compliant carol singers in Stockport have been heard singing the words of that well-known epidemiologist Mariah Carey, "All I want for Christmas is tier 2", but sadly their entreating that outcome has not been successful at all. Can my right hon. Friend explain, further to the question from my hon. Friend the Member for Altrincham and Sale West (Sir Graham Brady), precisely what more residents in Stockport need to do in order to regain some relative freedom?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-17
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): Yes. We have to keep getting the case rate down. In Stockport it is still over 100. There is further to go. Right across Greater Manchester and the surrounding areas, I would urge people to do as they have been doing, because the case rates have come down really quite significantly. Right across Greater Manchester and in Stockport, people have been doing the right thing, but the pressures on the NHS remain, partly from people who are in hospital with covid from when the rates were really high. I hope that we can make the move as soon as possible, and in the meantime I hope that everybody has a happy, safe and careful Christmas in Stockport.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-17
Topic: Health
Robert Henry Halfon (Conservative, Centre-right): Early this morning I visited a vaccination centre in Harlow that is running like a military operation and has started vaccinating the elderly and those in care homes. Will my right hon. Friend thank West Essex clinical commissioning group, GPs, staff and volunteers who are vaccinating many hundreds of Harlow residents? Will he also set out a route map by which Harlow can return to tier 2? I strongly welcome the testing announced for schools, but can he confirm that school openings will not be delayed in January?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-17
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): I am very grateful for what my right hon. Friend says about the vaccination centre in Harlow. It is an uplifting sight visiting a vaccination centre. Rarely have I seen so many smiles on faces this year, which has been such a difficult year, as when I visited the Milton Keynes vaccination centre last week. I am really glad that it is working well in Harlow. I add my thanks to his thanks to the GPs, the volunteers and the staff—all those organising the vaccinations In terms of a route map out of the tier, of course in time the vaccination programme will help, but for now the best thing people can do is to bring the case rate down by doing everything they personally can to not pass on this disease. Unfortunately the case rate in Harlow is 302 per 100,000—very, very elevated—and in nearby Epping Forest, unfortunately, it is over 500. It is a very serious problem. We all have to pull together to try to sort out this growth of the virus locally, and that is the route to tier 2.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-17
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): Where I agree with the hon. Lady is that the public are not fools; the public know that it is their responsibility, as well as the Government’s, to get this under control. That is where the emphasis on people taking personal responsibility to ensure that they do not pass on the virus this Christmas comes from. If we look at how the public across Luton and the whole country have behaved during this pandemic, under restrictions that are so inimical to our way of life and unprecedented, we see that people have still followed them because they know that they are important. That is the approach we are trying to take for Christmas, to make sure that we can keep this precious time of year, but in a way that is safe.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-17
Topic: Health
Jason McCartney (Conservative, Centre-right): I accepted Kirklees being in tier 3 when we had some of the highest covid rates in the country, but cases have now plummeted and hospitalisations are down. The case rate in Kirklees is about 167—below the English average—and in my Colne Valley constituency the case rates are actually under 100 per 100,000, and therefore I really thought we had a strong case to be brought down into tier 2. I appreciate that the Secretary of State wants to be cautious, but can he tell me when will the next review be, and what more do my constituents need to do to come out of tier 3?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-17
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): Legally, there is a review every two weeks, but in practice we review every week, and I will not wait a week longer than necessary to get places out of tier 3 if we can safely do that. To people across Colne Valley I would say, first, that the reduction in rates has been impressive, but we are not there yet. The pressure on the NHS has reduced, but is still significant. I would also say to everybody in Colne Valley that they have a Member of Parliament who probably makes his case to me more than any other. It is not for want of effort from the local MP, but this decision is based on the epidemiology, and I really hope we can get there soon.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-17
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): The guidance has been set out by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation. I think it is very important that we follow the clinical advice in this prioritisation to make sure that it is fair.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-17
Topic: Health
Richard John Holden (Conservative, Centre-right): I would like to thank the Department of Health and Social Care and the Secretary of State for everything they are doing, but I am sure he will appreciate, like me, just how fed up my local hospitality sector is across County Durham and the north-east. Will he join me in thanking local people for everything they are doing, because case rates have really come down? Will he also thank my local NHS staff? I saw them, when I visited on a night shift a couple of weeks ago, not only giving care to people with covid, but really showing love to them as they look after them. Will he commit to a fortnightly review, and will he ignore the LA7 group of local authorities and allow County Durham and perhaps parts of the north-east to go a separate way if case rates come down in the future? Can he update me and write to me about the vaccine roll-out, and will he also push the Chancellor for extra support for my local hospitality sector?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-17
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): Yes, of course; I will write to my hon. Friend as soon as I can on the roll-out of the vaccine across his part of County Durham. Making sure that everybody can get access is so important, hence we are taking this community-led approach as well as using the big hospital sites. The truth is that we do look at County Durham on its own merits, as well of course as a part of the other north-east local authorities. People in County Durham have been acting in a way that gets the case rates down, and I am very grateful to them for doing that. We are not quite there yet and there is still that pressure on the NHS, but we are moving in the right direction.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-17
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): The advice I have and the answer to the hon. Gentleman is, I hope, as few as possible—especially as we get the vaccine rolling out. I want to pick up something he said about this pandemic. This pandemic is caused by the virus, not by any Government around the world. It is caused by the virus, and that is why it is so important that we all come together to try to tackle it, rather than trying to take this overly politicised approach.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-17
Topic: Health
Desmond Angus Swayne (Conservative, Centre-right): His waitress tested positive, so the proprietor of the small café closed immediately and went into self-isolation, but test, track and trace has not contacted him, so he is without the wherewithal to claim the allowance. Can the Secretary of State fix it?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-17
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): Yes, if my right hon. Friend has the test reference number I will get on to it right away. If NHS Test and Trace has not contacted the owner, that might imply that he does not have to self-isolate, but of course I will want to look into the details of the case before making such a recommendation. I will ensure that my right hon. Friend’s constituents get a full, clinically approved recommendation ASAP.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-17
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): I am glad to say that we are making significant progress on tackling this issue. When the hon. Gentleman says it is a licensing concern, that should not be read to imply that it is some bureaucratic rule; it is about ensuring that things are done safely. If the vaccine is not delivered safely to the site, it is not an effective vaccine. Therefore, we are taking it carefully to be able to vaccinate in care homes. There has been some vaccination in care homes across the UK, so it can be done, and I hope we can make good progress soon.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-17
Topic: Health
Neil Peter Hammerton Hudson (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my right hon. Friend for the reassurance he gave me last week about the vaccine roll-out to rural communities. Will he join me in paying tribute to everyone in Cumbria and the wider UK who is involved in the delivery of the covid vaccination programme, and does he agree that the best way we can build a positive 2021 is for people to actively take up their invitation to have this vital vaccine when it comes, and to get their life-saving jab as soon as it is offered?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-17
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): I could not agree more with my hon. Friend. He knows about these things, and he is exactly right that the best thing everyone can do, when the NHS calls, is to take up that vaccine and get it done. It will protect them and their community and help to protect the whole country and get us all out of these restrictions at which we choke.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-17
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): I look at all these sorts of reports, as does the team at the Department, constantly to try to learn. Given that this is an unprecedented situation, all health authorities across the UK, whether here or in Edinburgh, Cardiff or Belfast, are constantly talking and trying to make sure that all the insights that can be gained can be applied. One example is that we now have contact tracing in the UK reaching over 90% of contacts. That is due to hard work and improvement, learning the insights from each other about how we can make systems better.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-17
Topic: Health
Robert John Blackman (Conservative, Centre-right): I am sure I speak on behalf of the whole House in thanking my right hon. Friend and his team for all their hard work over the course of this year to combat this dreadful virus, and also for updating the House on a regular basis on what action is being taken. May I give him the opportunity to reiterate the key message as we approach Christmas: that anyone who shows any signs of having the virus must get a test and, if it is positive, must self-isolate and not mix and mingle with people, so we can cut down on the spread of this dreadful virus? People must think twice before they mix with elderly relatives if they have been in contact with anyone who has had this dreadful virus.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-17
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): I agree with every word my hon. Friend has just said. Over this Christmas period, I hope that people will, yes, take a moment to have some relaxation, especially given what a tough year it has been, and have the chance to see loved ones, but do so carefully, knowing that one in three people who have this disease does not know that they have it because they have no symptoms. Anybody can be inadvertently passing it on to a vulnerable loved one, so they need to be very, very careful. To reiterate, it is in the best interests of everybody, their loved ones and their community to get a test at the first sign of symptoms—testing is now very, very widely available right across the country—and if the test is positive or if they are contacted by NHS Test and Trace because they are a contact, to isolate and do so not just because they have to but because it is the right thing to do to isolate fully and properly Finally, I strongly agree with my hon. Friend in wanting to thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, the whole of your team and all the staff of the House for supporting me in the many times I have had to come to the House this year and, in what has been an incredibly difficult year for the House as well as for the nation, for all the work they have done to support us in keeping our democracy going all the way through this, no matter how bad it got.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-17
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the hon. Gentleman very much for his kind words. He said that people have been encouraged every time I have come to the Dispatch Box. Given some of the things I have had to announce, I am sure that is not quite true, but it has been my duty to come and answer questions as much as possible. I have probably answered more questions from the hon. Gentleman than from anyone, and I am very happy to answer this last one for this year I spoke to Robin Swann, the Health Minister for Northern Ireland, this morning as part of a call with all four of us across the devolved Administrations. We are determined to ensure that people can travel across the whole of the UK as much as is safely possible, but, again, we urge caution and personal responsibility. People can take advantage of this change in the regulations over Christmas to see loved ones—sometimes loved ones they have not been able to see all year—but we urge them to do that with the appropriate concern for the risk of spreading the disease, and to make sure, therefore, that everybody has a merry Christmas and a happy new year. We will return here, no doubt, in 2021 with the hope of that vaccine coming fast into view so that we can get to the point where I do not have to return every week to discuss restrictions and, instead, we can all get our freedom back.
Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement — House of Commons, 2020-12-17
Topic: Health
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): We have provided exceptional resources both to the NHS and to local authorities over the course of the year, so the suggestion that public health has not been resourced this year is not correct. We have been providing huge sums of money to support the increasingly important role of directors of public health in local councils and the teams that are around them. With respect to Birmingham, we have provided £177 million of covid-19 expenditure funding already, much of which will have gone to support the sort of work that the hon. Gentleman is talking about, including through the infection control programmes.
Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement — House of Commons, 2020-12-17
Topic: Health
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): The question that the hon. Lady asks is primarily for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, but what I would say, building on my remarks of a few moments ago, is that public health has been significantly invested in over the course of this year as a result of the covid-19 pandemic. The public health grant provided to local councils has to be viewed in the round, including the sums of money that we have been providing to directors of public health for infection control, for personal protective equipment and for support for care homes across the country, including in her own local council, which has received £28 million of covid-19 expenditure already.
Christmas Adjournment — House of Commons, 2020-12-17
Topic: Health
Nigel Martin Evans (Conservative, Centre-right): On behalf of Mr Speaker and his team, I would like to thank everybody Stuart just mentioned, particularly the technicians, who have worked incredible miracles to ensure that the democracy we have here has been able to operate. It has been an awful year, but it has created angels and heroes, and we salute them, topped by the national health service and the scientists who have created a vaccine, which has given us all so much hope that 2021 will be a much better year. I will stop short of saying, "all I want for Christmas is you"—I am not going to ask for miracles—but I do know that all I want for the new year is that everyone who needs a jab gets one, in order that we can get our country and the world back to where we were. Merry Christmas everybody, and a happy new year.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-30
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman is quite right that this virus has thrown up problems and challenges right around the world; we have seen the impact in other countries in some of the news from other parts of Europe today. He is also right that, thanks to the approval of this vaccine, alongside the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the end is in sight. That should give us hope that, while we have difficult weeks ahead of us, we can see the route out of this pandemic and normal life returning, with all that that means and entails The hon. Gentleman talked about the pressures on the NHS, which are significant. One advantage of having a national health system is that when one area of the country faces particular challenges, others can come to its mutual aid. That is in process—it is happening—and means that people are sometimes taken across the country to receive care where there is spare capacity. That is necessary; it is how the system works when it is under significant pressure The hon. Gentleman asked about the vaccination of NHS staff. I can confirm that, thanks to the decision announced by the regulator today, we will be able to accelerate the vaccination of NHS staff already in priority group 2, as well as of the over-80s and of care home residents and staff. He asked about the number of vaccines we have available. I mentioned in the statement that we have 530,000 across the UK available for deployment in the first week of January. The NHS is doing a fantastic job of constantly increasing and expanding the scale of its operation Finally, the hon. Gentleman asked what more can be done in areas where rates are very high and continuing to rise. The true answer is that it is on all of us—it is about how everybody behaves. If we collectively decide to stop this by taking personal responsibility and not coming into contact with others unless absolutely necessary, we can slow the spread of this virus. The tiers restrictions are of course necessary, but ultimately it is about how we all behave. That is how we will get through the next few weeks together, and then the vaccine can come and save us.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-30
Topic: Health
Jeremy Richard Streynsham Hunt (Conservative, Centre-right): The news from AstraZeneca is fantastic. The Secretary of State and British science in general deserve enormous credit The NHS is now busier than last April; in parts of London it looks like it may fall over. However, back in April, schools were shut, but next week primary schools are due to reopen. In September, we came to regret allowing university students to go back en masse, but some universities will start to go back from next week. Why, in the middle of winter, when the NHS is under such pressure, when we have a dangerous new strain of the virus, are we taking such huge risks? Should not our entire focus for the next eight to 12 weeks be on saving lives, getting the first dose of the vaccine out to every single vulnerable person, stopping the NHS collapsing and putting NHS frontline staff at the front of the queue for the vaccines so that we keep safe the people upon whom our safety depends?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-30
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): I share my right hon. Friend’s desire and the strategy of keeping this virus supressed while we get the vaccine rolled out as fast as possible. One of the other good pieces of news from this morning’s announcement is that we can roll this vaccine out faster because we only need to give the second dose after 12 weeks; that means that we can get the first dose of the vaccine into more people. The data shows that that gives that immunity, so we can get through the protection of the nation faster than we previously could have done The points that my right hon. Friend raises about education are of course important. The Education Secretary will set out in a statement shortly the details of how we will manage the very difficult balance between needing to keep children in education as much as possible and ensuring that we do not add upward pressure on the R number and spread the virus any further. I commend to him the Education Secretary’s statement.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-30
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): I have just announced the need to move a significant proportion of England into tier 4 restrictions, and I welcome the implicit support for that measure. Where it is possible to keep some of the freedoms that we all cherish, we should do so, and that is the basis for our tiered approach. I of course welcome the hon. Lady’s support for the roll-out of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, which will happen right across the UK from Monday. It has been a pleasure working with Jeane Freeman, the SNP Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Health in Holyrood, to ensure that this vaccine, which has been bought, developed and supported effectively by UK science right across the country, can be deployed properly to everybody in the whole of the UK on a fair and equitable basis according to their clinical need. I look forward to working very hard to make sure that happens.