Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2021-02-02
Topic: Health
Jonathan Michael Graham Ashworth (Labour, Centre-left): I am grateful, as always, to the Secretary of State for advance sight of his statement. I thank you, Mr Speaker, for putting in place the arrangements for testing on the estate. I am sure that Members and, crucially, staff on the estate are extremely grateful for that initiative. I also extend my best wishes to the Lord Speaker on his birthday today. The news that the South African variant has been identified in eight different local authority areas is alarming and suggests significant community transmission. Can I just ask the Secretary of State to run through the timelines? When did these 11 cases test positive, and how long does the genetic sequencing take? When was he told of the cases? Can these processes be made speedier? I am told, for example, that the Ealing case tested positive in late December The variants bring into focus the importance of border controls. Times Radio reports that hotel quarantine arrangements will not be in place until 15 February. Why the delay? According to The Times, the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies warned two weeks ago that tougher quarantine restrictions for everyone entering the UK were needed. The Government dispute that interpretation, so will the Secretary of State publish the SAGE minutes from 21 January I welcome the extra testing, but may I suggest the Secretary of State goes further, because people move beyond their postcode boundaries? They go shopping and many still have to go to work. Will he therefore roll out testing in neighbouring postcodes? He wants to come down hard on this variant, but is not the lesson of mass testing, such as in Liverpool, that people are hesitant to take a test if they are not compensated for any loss of income associated with self-isolation? We are fighting this virus with one hand tied behind our back, asking the low paid to go hungry in order not to spread the virus. Transmission chains will not be broken without decent sick pay and isolation support We have seen the Kent B117 variant spread with speed. Public Health England’s latest technical briefing reports that B117 sequences with the E484K mutation seen in the South African variant have now been identified. That is very worrying, because this is the mutation thought to be behind the partial vaccine evasion. Surely that suggests that further action will be needed. For example, Germany, Austria and France are recommending FFP2 face masks on public transport and in shops. The Chair of the Select Committee, the right hon. Member for South West Surrey (Jeremy Hunt) has also suggested that. Will the Secretary of State now review the evidence and look at that measure On vaccination, I again congratulate the NHS. Not all care homes have been vaccinated—those with a covid outbreak have not, for understandable reasons—but will the Secretary of State tell us how many such care homes are outstanding? There have been reports of some care staff turning down vaccination, so can he tell us how many care staff have been vaccinated? Will he ensure that the NHS collects data on the numbers turning down vaccination, so that we can target and overcome the vaccine hesitancy more effectively Public health services have an important role in tackling vaccine hesitancy. When will public health directors know their allocations for the next financial year? UNICEF has warned: "Children are not the face of this pandemic. But they risk being among its biggest victims" I accept it was inevitable that schools would close given community transmission levels, but that does not make it any less devastating. We are depriving young people of social interaction and of play with their friends. Learning is not the same and mental health problems are increasing. There will be children in homes where there is violence or where drink abuse or substance misuse is prevalent Children’s health must always be a priority. On current plans, how many teachers will be vaccinated as part of bands 5 to 9, and how many teachers and support staff will have to wait until the period between Easter and summer to be vaccinated? Last September, it was reported that 25,000 teachers had been off sick related to covid, further disrupting children’s learning, so how can the Secretary of State ensure that we do not see the same disruption again from March when it is hoped that schools will return Finally, this is indeed National HIV Testing Week. Over the weekend, I binge-watched "It’s a Sin", and I was in tears. Thankfully, HIV is not a death sentence today. People living with HIV are in phase 6 for vaccination, but only if they have disclosed their HIV status to their GP. Many have not and still do not want to because of the stigma that we saw portrayed in "It’s a Sin", so will the Secretary of State ensure that people living with HIV are able to access vaccination at their HIV clinic?