argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Covid-19 — House of Lords, 2020-10-20
Topic: Health
James Bethell (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, my noble friend’s observation is entirely right. In Manchester alone there have been more coronavirus infections already in October than in July, August and September combined. The average daily hospital admissions in Greater Manchester are now higher than they were on 26 March, and there are now more Covid-19 patients in Greater Manchester hospitals than in the whole of the south-west and the south-east combined. These are illustrative of one region but it is a story that has already played out in others, and we naturally fear that it will play out in others in the future My noble friend’s advice on the mixing of households is very perceptive. One thing with that we cannot do anything about is the kind of infection that the noble Baroness, Lady Thornton, described among her friends, where it spreads within a household. That is something that no household can reasonably fight against. However, stopping the spread of disease between different households is something that we can lean into. It requires an enormous amount of social distancing and a return to the kind of lockdown measures that we had at the beginning of this year. That is something that we are extremely anxious to avoid because it has enormous social impact, it is disruptive to our way of life, and it has an economic impact because it has implications on social distancing and on some businesses. Still, my noble friend is entirely right that that is exactly the kind of area that we will need to look at if we are to contain the spread of the virus.
Covid-19 — House of Lords, 2020-10-20
Topic: Health
James Bethell (Conservative, Centre-right): The right reverend Prelate puts it extremely well. We completely recognise that not only does the virus attack the most vulnerable, but those who are least fortunate bear the huge brunt of the lockdown and the measures needed to crack down on the virus. In these matters, I emphasise that it is worth stepping back and reminding ourselves that the Government are not the source of the problem; the virus is. All the Government can do is take measures to save lives, protect our healthcare service and keep our schools open. In that way, it is not right to demonise central government for taking measures Central government can take measures to help protect the vulnerable, and I acknowledge the right reverend Prelate’s point on this. I reassure her that we have put in place the Job Support Scheme to ensure that those affected by business closure are still paid; we have made £465 million available to help local authorities implement and enforce restrictions; we have provided £1 billion of extra funding to local authorities across the country; and we are committed to working with local authorities to allocate testing and tracing locally On the message the Government deliver, I recognise the phenomenon described by the right reverend Prelate, but I reassure her that there is no intent by government to make an association between poor behaviours and results. The data is there. We have published every piece of data we can and, to an extent, it does not lie. It is an uncomfortable truth, but some communities have consistently higher prevalence and infection rates. There is some responsibility on those communities to address the causes of that. It is an intent shared by government, local authorities, communities and individuals. There is no avoiding the fact that you cannot pin responsibility on any one of those four pillars Lastly, the right reverend Prelate is entirely right that faith communities pay an important role. I pay testimony to those faith communities in cities such as Leicester and Bolton, which have worked with us to great effect. We continue to put our relations with faith communities at the centre of our outreach to communities.
Covid-19 — House of Lords, 2020-10-20
Topic: Health
James Bethell (Conservative, Centre-right): The noble Baroness makes her point well, but I will defend the three-tier system. It is an important mechanism to avoid a national lock- down, which is our objective. It was designed in close collaboration with local authorities and stakeholder groups. It has proved effective in a number of areas, and there is evidence of infection rates coming down where local lockdowns have been effective. But I completely agree with her analysis of public opinion. There is a growing sentiment that decisive action may be necessary, and an enormous amount of support, despite what one reads in the newspapers, for decisive action by the Government to restrict the spread of this virus.
Covid-19 — House of Lords, 2020-10-20
Topic: Health
James Bethell (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I am enormously pleased to hear that the noble Lord’s cancer treatment has progressed so well. Like him, I pay tribute to those at the Hereford County Hospital who participated in his treatment, and in fact to all those who have maintained an incredibly high level of cancer treatments through the difficulties of the pandemic. Broadly, cancer treatments were maintained at around 85% of their normal practice during the summer months, and the restart has come on a long way. In July 2020, 87.8% of patients saw a cancer specialist within two weeks following a referral from their GP, and 94.5% of patients received treatment within 31 days of a decision to treat. However, I completely agree with the noble Lord’s analysis: more could be done. That is why we are backing the Help Us, Help You campaign, which is a very high-profile marketing campaign, to try to drive up attendance rates and ensure that no one is put off by fear of hospitals or GP surgeries when they have a tell-tale sign, and that they go and get the referral that they need.
Covid-19 — House of Lords, 2020-10-20
Topic: Health
Emma Pidding (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, we have clear evidence that obesity is a real hazard with regard to Covid-19. Tackling obesity and promoting the benefits of exercise, both for our physical and mental well-being, are quite rightly priorities of this Government, both now during this pandemic and beyond. Does my noble friend the Minister agree that we need to do all we can to ensure that gyms remain open as long as they can operate in a Covid-safe environment? Can he also confirm my understanding that we have two regions that are both currently in tier 3 with differing restrictions: Merseyside where gyms are closed, and Lancashire where gyms are open? Surely we need clarity of message.
Covid-19 — House of Lords, 2020-10-20
Topic: Health
Patience Wheatcroft (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, at the beginning of this debate, the Minister gave a very spirited defence of the test and trace system. This morning, my daughter and her 15 month-old daughter were tested, and it was very efficiently done, but they were told that they should expect results in two to three days’ time. The Minister mentioned 24 hours; what timetable are the Government trying to operate on for test and trace because, clearly, if there are two days that are fallow, an awful lot of people risk being infected I will also address the issue of gyms. The noble Baroness, Lady Thornton, talked about the lack of clarity at the beginning of this debate. If people are to stick to the rules, they need clarity. I do not understand why gyms are open at all, quite honestly. It seems to me—as the Minister indicated—that they are potential hotbeds for coronavirus. However, we are told that discretion is given to local authorities to decide what they do and do not allow. I recall that Manchester was absolutely determined that it would like to stop alcohol sales at the same time that, if not sooner than, pubs were forced to close, but it was not given discretion over that. I would be grateful if the Minister could explain when local authorities do and do not have discretion I also wonder whether the Minister could tell the House the position on travel to work. Office workers are told to work from home if it is possible for them not to work from the office, but there does not seem to be a ruling that says, "Do not go to work in an office unless you absolutely have to". What counts as essential? What instructions are the Government giving to civil servants about whether they should travel to work? We are told that gatherings that are "reasonably necessary" can take place in office environments with no limit on the numbers involved. In the circumstances, that seems crazy. If the Minister could clarify the position, I would be grateful.
Covid-19 — House of Lords, 2020-10-20
Topic: Health
James Bethell (Conservative, Centre-right): I reassure the noble Baroness that 24 hours is our objective, and it is clear that a 24-hour target is right. Having swift turnaround is conducive to effectiveness, and that is what we are trying to do. There has been a very large increase in demand in the last 11 weeks, which has put pressure on our operations and pushed back some of our turnaround times. We are working extremely hard to address that; new capacity is coming on-stream all the time, and we are hopeful that that can be turned around very quickly The noble Baroness is entirely right to raise her point on clarity, which is very similar to those raised by others, including the right reverend Prelate. There is a really important balance that we have to get right here because to have communal buy-in to our measures, we need to somehow mobilise leaders that people trust, from their faith community, their local community or other leadership groups that they subscribe to However, to give people a role in the decision-making about what measures are to take place in one area or another, there will be an uneven application of regulations—what happens in one place will not be the same in another. We have made a commitment to a partnership between national and local government, and we are trying to manage that complex partnership at the moment. As noble Lords know from the discussions in the other place and our conversations with Manchester, this is an extremely bumpy affair and it does not always work out well However, we are committed to doing this precisely for the reasons the noble Baroness described: to have buy-in, we need to mobilise all the country and all the people who are respected by those who adhere to the rules. That is why we take the approach we do. It means that gyms will be open in Lancashire but not in Merseyside. It is argued that this is a complexity that the British public can handle. It also takes us into very public conversations about funding, the allocation of resources and the establishment of new testing facilities. We believe it is worth the administrative and political effort to try to do that. There are also delays to the implementation of some of the restrictions. The British public will form their own judgment on their politicians and whether that is worth their while. These are the prices and friction costs to the local/national partnership that we are committed to, which has been advocated on the Benches of this Chamber for many months.
Covid-19 — House of Lords, 2020-10-20
Topic: Health
James Bethell (Conservative, Centre-right): The noble Baroness is right to raise questions about the way in which the disease is transmitted. We have put a huge amount of effort into studying it. I pay tribute to the epidemiologists who have crafted sophisticated models and have sought to test them in practical ways in order to establish, for good, the really important questions of how one person’s conversation, breathing and spoken word might transmit the disease to another person either through the air or on surfaces. Understanding that is absolutely essential in order for us to put in place the right kinds of Covid safety measures. However, at this stage it is an imprecise science. For instance, there is some evidence that transmission from hygiene and surfaces can play a very important role, perhaps meaning that we have to invest more thought and commitment in cleaning measures. The guidelines we have for workplace and school testing reflect the very best provable standards according to scientific evidence. We continue to invest in these important epidemiological insights, and I welcome very much the contribution of the scientists on SAGE and all those who continue to try to gain a better understanding of this issue.
Covid-19 — House of Lords, 2020-10-20
Topic: Health
James Bethell (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the noble Lord for his interest. The JCVI is, as he described, the agency responsible for giving advice on the prioritisation plan. Our policy is to follow that advice, and I pay tribute to those on the panel for the hard work they are putting into that. The interim advice is extremely thoughtful and follows the best values and standards of this country. We are putting a lot of work into trying to raise adoption rates of the vaccine. We face a challenge from those who would like to query the science or have some form of national or commercial vested interest in undermining confidence in the vaccine. We are putting a lot of work into mitigating that risk. That is not work that I would like to discuss at the Dispatch Box but I would be very glad to share some of it privately at a later date.
Covid-19: South Yorkshire — House of Lords, 2020-10-22
Topic: Health
Nick Herbert (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I agree with the Minister’s main point, which is that local lockdowns are really the only choice available to us at the moment if we wish to avoid a national lockdown—which will penalise those areas that do not have the relevant levels of Covid and cause further economic hardship—and are to reject those voices which, through things such as the Great Barrington declaration, suggest that there should be no restrictions at all other than shielding the vulnerable, which would exact a tremendous humanitarian toll. That being the choice, surely local lockdowns, backed by the relevant economic assistance, must be the current policy. If people are looking for bigger solutions, those ought to lie in the advance of either rapid testing or a vaccine. Can my noble friend update us on the potential timetable and likelihood of a vaccine and how prioritisation will be organised to ensure that it is available to those who most need it first?
Covid-19: South Yorkshire — House of Lords, 2020-10-22
Topic: Health
James Bethell (Conservative, Centre-right): The noble Baroness alludes to a glitch that the noble Baroness, Lady Thornton, raised yesterday, which I looked into overnight at her suggestion. It is true that if someone lives in a household with several other people who have been reported to have Covid, they are, at the moment, each receiving emails or calls, not on a household basis. We are looking at this and I hope to have it fixed in the next few days. I am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Thornton, for raising it.
Covid-19: South Yorkshire — House of Lords, 2020-10-22
Topic: Health
James Bethell (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, the exit strategy question is extremely important and I am grateful to the noble Baroness for raising it. We have not published strict criteria for each exit strategy for moving from one tier to another. It is part art and part science, in any case. We look at a large number of indices, including hospitalisation, transmission and incidence rates, and so on. What the Government and local authorities can do is to figure out local Covid plans with inherent exit strategies. We will be working on those as a matter of priority.
Covid-19: South Yorkshire — House of Lords, 2020-10-22
Topic: Health
James Bethell (Conservative, Centre-right): I pay tribute to NHS colleagues who have done an enormous amount to increase NHS lab capacity, and would be happy to share the numbers with the noble Baroness. We have written to care homes to emphasise the critical importance of the pastoral visits to which she refers. There is no question of a care home shutting out visitors if it can be avoided and we are putting regular testing in place to protect care homes. We are looking at providing regular testing for visitors and hope to make progress on it.
Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (Self-Isolation) (England) Regulations 2020 — House of Lords, 2020-10-22
Topic: Health
Patricia Elizabeth Rawlings (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I thank the Minister for presenting so clearly this vital regulation. I am sure that your Lordships agree that it would be wrong not to self-isolate as instructed, and wrong not to make disobedience a serious offence. However, what is the government procedure for contacting the general public if a person who is already infected with Covid-19 does not self-isolate but travels on public transport, obviously spreading it? As the noble Baroness, Lady Jolly, asked, how do the Government contact anyone who could have been close to the diseased person, and make it public? Is PHE responsible if it does not contact the relevant public? Is it fined? After all, we all want to save lives.
Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (Self-Isolation) (England) Regulations 2020 — House of Lords, 2020-10-22
Topic: Health
Michael Morris (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, frankly, I do not see why this particular SI could not have been tabled earlier, in September. We had the break in August. I hope that my noble friend on the Front Bench will answer the case regarding children put by the noble Baroness, Lady Meacher, and pay particular attention to the plea from the noble Lord, Lord Bilimoria, for this country, remembering that we are an exporter and that we have to export to succeed One of the main problems hampering Her Majesty’s Government in making sensible decisions is the lack of timely data. We were talking about isolation; now, everybody has to have a test. I checked the figures over the weekend. Fewer than a third of the test results have been coming back within 48 hours, but last Sunday, the figure was only 16%. Frankly, that is hopeless. We have now had six months’ experience, and nothing seems to have improved on that front. It is not acceptable. It is important to publish—ideally, weekly—not just the number of cases and tests but the percentage of people who test positive. That makes it possible to tell how much of the increase is due to more testing Last week, I mentioned what was happening with reporting the number of deaths. Also important is the primary cause of death on the death certificate for those who have had Covid. The number of deaths between 10 August and 7 October was precisely 43, in 60 days. Even on a macro scale, we are not out of line with what normally happens at this time of the year The weekly and monthly mandated data of the Secondary Uses Service, the repository for healthcare data in England, shows a dramatic reduction in respiratory condition admissions compared to normal. We have seven Nightingale hospitals, with £220 million having been spent on them. What on earth are we using them for?
Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (Self-Isolation) (England) Regulations 2020 — House of Lords, 2020-10-22
Topic: Health
Ian McColl (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, these regulations also stress the importance of personal responsibility. A recent survey indicated low levels of adherence to self-isolation guidance, at 18%. The study was conducted by a range of bodies, including Public Health England and academic institutions. Will the Government publish that figure and emphasise that people must play their part in correcting it These regulations are, of course, an essential part of preventive medicine. Many countries with a high incidence of Covid also have a high prevalence of malfunctioning immune systems. Why do the majority of these citizens have immune systems that do not work effectively? It is simply because their immune systems have been poisoned by cytokines, which leak out of the excessive number of fat cells. The majority of people in these countries with a high Covid incidence are obese. Covid and obesity is a dangerous and often fatal combination, and we need an all-out nationwide campaign to reduce the obesity epidemic before we are overwhelmed by the next pandemic. Would the Minister agree?
Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (Self-Isolation) (England) Regulations 2020 — House of Lords, 2020-10-22
Topic: Health
Rosalind Altmann (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my noble friend, for whose stamina, good humour and diligence I have enormous respect, for introducing these regulations. He certainly received the hospital pass. He says that the aim of this SI is to make it crystal clear to the public that people should stay at home and self-isolate but, as the noble Lords, Lord Rooker and Lord Hunt, and the noble Baroness, Lady Meacher, and others have said, for how long? Should it be for 14 days or 10 days, and from when—five days before what? It is convoluted. This SI is part of a broad effort to simplify and clarify the rules, but they have ended up being highly confusing, with huge fines With such penalties, it is particularly regrettable that there has been no proper parliamentary scrutiny of these measures. They were not debated in the Commons, even though they were announced about a week before they came into force, and we are now debating them well after commencement. The SI states, for example, that parents are responsible for ensuring that children under 18 self-isolate. Can my noble friend confirm that a parent could be fined thousands of pounds if their rebellious 16 year-old persistently sneaks out of the house to go to the gym? What advice does the Government have for effective restraints or solitary confinement methods for individual homes I recognise that my noble friend believes that these measures are designed to protect individuals and their loved ones, but isolation itself costs lives. Psychological damage, collapsing cancer tests and other treatments, and the lack of exercise, as my noble friend Lord Moynihan, has said, have already caused thousands of deaths as a direct or indirect result of lockdown. The poorest groups are the hardest hit, as the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee warns, including so many of the young.