argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is exactly right, and the best decision that individuals can make for themselves, their families and their communities is to follow the guidance: wash your hands; face; space; and protect the NHS and save lives.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I repeat the point that I have made about the self-employed: £13.5 billion has been given to support them, and where there is more we can do, we will obviously look at it. The hon. Lady makes an interesting point about whether a local approach would have been better throughout this than a national approach. All the evidence is that we need both. That is what we have supplied, and that is what we will continue to supply. That is why we are expanding our support for the local approach. The experience of other countries shows that we need a national approach, because otherwise the local test and trace operations simply do not join up. Plenty of countries have had that experience, and that is why we are taking an approach that joins up local test and trace with national test and trace.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I totally agree with what David Nabarro had to say—I think he is completely right. I think that the best way to control this virus is common-sensical restrictions on person-to-person contact, because it is that person-to-person contact that spreads the virus. That is what we all need to do.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his suggestion. I can tell him that we are already working with the Liverpool City Region on improving local test and trace. His suggestion is very apposite and one, I am sure, that will be taken forward in the course of those conversations.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): Yes, indeed. What the people of this country want to see is unanimous support for measures that restrict the spread of the virus. We have had that before, and I hope that we will have it again. I also hope that Opposition Members who are calling on me to do more in Greater Manchester will prevail on the authorities there to come into tier 3 and to help us to get there.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Andrew John Bower Mitchell (Conservative, Centre-right): I warmly welcome my right hon. Friend’s collaborative approach with local government and with the mayors, but will he bear in mind that we have unity among the politicians and the public health experts across the west midlands under our skilful and much-respected Mayor Andy Street in support of the current levels of restrictions, because they do appear to be working? The medical evidence and political consensus suggest leaving the west midlands at level 1 with the additional local restrictions.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): This Government are of course obliged to adapt their plans to combat the virus, as the epidemic changes shape and changes course. Our objective remains unchanged, which is to get the R rate down in the hon. Gentleman’s constituency and elsewhere, while keeping education open and keeping our economy going. That is something on which both sides of this House are united.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful to my hon. Friend. Alas, I cannot give him a date by which I can promise confidently that we will have a vaccine. There are some very hopeful signs, not least from the Oxford-AstraZeneca trials that are being conducted, but, as he knows, SARS took place 18 years ago and we still do not have a vaccine for SARS. I do not wish to depress him, but we must be realistic about this. There is a good chance of a vaccine, but it cannot be taken for granted.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I understand the point that the hon. Lady makes, and obviously, again, I am sorry for the bad experiences that some people have had with the excessive turnaround times for NHS Test and Trace and so on, but I do think that the mixed approach that we are taking is the right one. We need a joined-up, national Test and Trace system combined with the work of local authorities, and that is what we are delivering.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Dehenna Sheridan Fareham (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the Prime Minister for his statement and for the tireless work that he is putting in to tackle this wretched virus. A number of constituents running hospitality businesses have contacted me, such as Cheryl, who runs the Station Hotel in Bishop Auckland. She is particularly concerned about the lack of households being able to meet within her pub. Can the Prime Minister reassure Cheryl that we will look at lifting those local restrictions as soon as feasibly possible, and that we will also look at taking every step possible to provide additional financial support for those in tier 2 lockdowns?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): Of course, and in addition to providing support for hospitality—pubs—in Bishop Auckland through the JSS that I mentioned already, there is the business rate cut that my hon. Friend is familiar with and the grants that I have announced today. But the best thing, as she rightly says, is to get the virus under control so that we can lift these restrictions altogether. That is what we want to do.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): The differentiation that is often made between students and other members of the public is sometimes overdone. Students are playing a heroic role in containing the virus where they can in following the guidance and not spreading it back into their families and their home towns. I thank them very much for what they are doing and hope they continue in that way, in Exeter and elsewhere.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Caroline Ansell (Conservative, Centre-right): I welcome my right hon. Friend’s decision to reject the twin dire choices of a second national lockdown or letting the virus rip, and to take up the far more challenging and complicated path of localising our actions in particular areas. My constituency is low-incidence for the virus but the hospitality sector is hard hit, and Christmas is now in the frame. What moves might there be, going forward, to hyper-localise actions, and what support will there be for my constituents’ jobs and businesses?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is absolutely right that it would be a wonderful thing if we could hyper- localise actions in the way that she suggests. Alas, the disease being what it is, we cannot reduce to too small a size the areas in which we place restrictions. The best thing that her constituents can do, and the best thing the whole country can do, to get through this as fast as possible is to follow the package of measures that we have set out. As I have said to Opposition Members, the best thing would be if cities and regions across the country came together and delivered the package that we have set out.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Jerome Patrick Burke Mayhew (Conservative, Centre-right): While rightly moving to simplify the message, does my right hon. Friend agree that flexible local approaches are the best way to tackle outbreaks in order to prevent a total lockdown and minimise the wider economic impact, particularly on low-incidence-level areas such as Broadland?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I would be happy to write to the hon. Gentleman about the test centre that he mentions. As I have said, we are increasing test and trace capacity and the number of tests conducted the whole time. As I said, I will be happy to write to him about the particular case he mentions, but it is still the case that this country continues to test more people and conduct more tests than any other country in Europe.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Selaine Rachel Saxby (Conservative, Centre-right): Will my right hon. Friend join me in thanking Devon County Council and Public Health Devon for their response to the virus so far, where swathes of local actions are in place to contain local outbreaks? Does he agree that it is vital for national and local government work together to tackle differences in the regional prevalence of this virus?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): Yes. I thank my hon. Friend, and everybody in Devon, and the local authorities, for their efforts to keep the virus down. This is a giant collective effort, and alas, even in the south-west we are seeing the virus going up, although by nothing like as much as in other parts of the country. It is going up across the whole country, and we must work together to get it down.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): That is why we are investing massively in NHS Test and Trace, and in a co-ordinated local effort. As I have said before, we are now testing more people than any other country in Europe, and we have contacted hundreds of thousands of people across the country and persuaded them to slow the spread of the virus. Rather than continually knocking NHS Test and Trace, let us work together to support it and build public confidence.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Virginia Ann Crosbie (Conservative, Centre-right): The Prime Minister and the Government have been faced with a crisis the like of which we have not seen since world war two. Despite everything, they have kept our NHS safe and casualties to a minimum, and the economy continues to function. Will the Prime Minister commit 100% to my constituents on Ynys Môn to do everything he can to prevent a second UK-wide lockdown, and join me in thanking them for their incredible effort in keeping our island's infection rates down?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I thoroughly congratulate the people of Ynys Môn on what they are doing and on keeping infection rates down. I hope that they will continue to work with the rest of the country to follow the guidance and save lives.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Anthony Howe Browne (Conservative, Centre-right): The Government have quite rightly focused on protecting the NHS, but we also need to keep the NHS serving patients in South Cambridgeshire, which, like other parts of the country, has relatively low levels of covid, but plenty of people with other medical conditions that need planned and emergency care. As the second wave strikes, can the Prime Minister tell me what steps the Government are taking to ensure that all patients, whatever their condition, can carry on getting the treatment that they need?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): The daily test process has gone up by 34% just in the last month, and daily capacity has gone up by 28%. As the right hon. Lady knows, by the end of this month, NHS Test and Trace is confident that it will be doing 500,000 tests—it will have capacity, I should say, for 500,000 tests a day.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Harriett Mary Morison Baldwin (Conservative, Centre-right): No one envies the Prime Minister having to make these incredibly difficult decisions. Last week’s Office for National Statistics community survey showed that by far and away the biggest age group catching the virus is the student age group. Since age is a much bigger predictor of risk than geography, are the Prime Minister’s advisers considering making recommendations about how individuals can control their own risk by age?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): One of the issues that we have—I tried to address this point earlier—particularly with the large numbers of multi-generational households such as we have in this country, is that it is very difficult to confine the virus to one age group and one generation. Alas, one of the reasons we are so concerned is that it is starting to spread quite substantially among the over-60s, as we are seeing now in the Merseyside region.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Kevin Paul Hollinrake (Conservative, Centre-right): From what the Prime Minister said, I have worked out that the entirety of Thirsk and Malton is in the lowest tier of risk, and I am very keen to keep it there. Now that we have data that is super-local data, can we have restrictions that are super-local? Rather than looking at things on the county-wide level of North Yorkshire, where we have varying levels of incidence, can we look at them at a district council level, as Hambleton and Ryedale, which have very low levels of transmission?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Andrew Campbell Bowie (Conservative, Centre-right): It was very welcome to hear the First Minister of Scotland confirm earlier that the three-tier system being unveiled in Scotland in a few weeks will closely align with the one for the rest of the United Kingdom, as consistency of messaging is key to saving lives. With that in mind, will the Prime Minister confirm that a four nation, whole-UK approach remains at the heart of what the Government are trying to achieve in combating coronavirus?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Lee Anderson (Conservative, Centre-right): My constituents in Ashfield have worked incredibly hard to obey all the rules and guidelines to keep covid at bay. I am therefore deeply disappointed that we have found ourselves in the same lockdown situation as Nottingham, where rates are eight times higher. We are not in tier 3, as I first feared, but that is not a fair reward for my constituents. Can my right hon. Friend please assure me that our rates will be reviewed on a weekly basis, and that when they come down we will be taken out of tier 2?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Mohammad Saqib Bhatti (Conservative, Centre-right): My constituents in Meriden have worked really hard to comply with the guidelines, and I am sure they will adapt to the new tier system to protect the NHS and keep the rate of infection low. Because they have worked so hard, will the Prime Minister commit to working to review things and get them out of tier 2 as soon as possible? They have been doing their part, and they deserve it.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Andrew Hanson Jones (Conservative, Centre-right): The Nightingale hospital in Harrogate has been stood up ready for full-staff readiness. That 500-bed hospital was built in 18 days by 600 people—staff from the NHS, our armed services, Harrogate Borough Council and colleagues from the private sector. It was an example of local and national working together. Does the Prime Minister agree with me that that combination of local and national, public and private is the way to bring all the resources we can to tackle this pandemic?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): Yes, indeed. I can assure the people of Harrogate and elsewhere that we are stepping up preparations across the country, but the Nightingales, as I think Stephen Powis of the NHS has confirmed, are being stood up in the north of the country as well.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): The deputy chief medical officer, Jonathan Van-Tam, addressed that point directly earlier on today about transmission in hospitality settings. Clearly, we need to reduce the overall budget of transmission that is going on in the country, and that is one sector that we can address. I am interested in what she says about Greater Manchester; my information is slightly different. What I would hope is that we can work together to bring down the rates in Greater Manchester, which at present are certainly worrying.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Robin John Millar (Conservative, Centre-right): I welcome the Government’s approach to using health, economic and behavioural evidence in reaching their decisions, but a recent poll suggested that only some three quarters of people expected to isolate intended to do so, and that as few as one in five had actually done so. Does my right hon. Friend agree that the key to tackling this pandemic is shared responsibility, not just between national and local government but with every single citizen?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): Indeed. Everybody who is told to self-isolate because they have been in contact with somebody with an index case of covid should remember that there is £500 to help them but also a £10,000 fine if they fail to do so and therefore risk the virus spreading further.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): We are generally well disposed towards any business or organisation that allows its activities to take place in a covid-secure way. We will proceed with our plans to do that for sporting events as soon as we possibly can. As for the car boot sale in my hon. Friend’s constituency, I urge everybody attending it to observe social distancing and stop the spread of the virus.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I understand my right hon. Friend’s point and I have every sympathy with Bournemouth’s hospitality industry, which I have enjoyed many times in the past, as I am sure we all have. Alas, we have to make restrictions in the overall volume of transmission that is taking place in our society. That is an obvious place to make a difference, and that is what we are doing.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): One of the problems is that places like Strabane in Northern Ireland have about 820 cases per 100,000, which is about the highest in the UK, perhaps in the whole of Europe. That is why we have to take the actions we are taking. I hear what the hon. Gentleman says about the circuit breaker. We want to give these measures time to work, if we possibly can.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Felicia Jane Beatrix Drummond (Conservative, Centre-right): May I thank the Prime Minister for his welcome statement? I have been visiting pubs and event businesses in Meon Valley, where the covid transmission rate is below the national average. What reassurance can he give to businesses, which are looking to plan ahead, that restrictions will be lifted flexibly where transmissions revert to a low level?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): That is a very good question. A lot of people ask about the precise criteria. We look at a number of different measures. We look at the hospital admissions and the rate of transmissions in the community. A number of things are taken into account, but one thing that was clearly and particularly influential in the decision on Merseyside was the transmission, as has just been mentioned, into the over-60s group, which is obviously very concerning. As I just said to my hon. Friend the Member for Meon Valley (Mrs Drummond), when the R comes down, that changes it.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Dean Russell (Conservative, Centre-right): While I was volunteering just this morning at Watford General Hospital, where it happens to be Think Clean week, the wonderful specialist infection prevention and control support worker Cheryl Atkins used an ultraviolet system to show me how easily this or any virus can spread through poor hand hygiene. Does the Prime Minister agree that it is incumbent on us all to fight covid by washing our hands regularly and by following the incredibly simple yet tremendously powerful guidance of "Hands, face, space"?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Benjamin David Bradley (Conservative, Centre-right): It is really frustrating that Mansfield is heading into new restrictions when our rate of transmission is 10% of that of Nottingham city—despite being further away from it than Derby, for example, which is not being similarly restricted. I understand the need to get ahead of the virus, but I argued strongly against these arbitrary-seeming boundaries. Can my right hon. Friend assure me that this will be regularly and properly reviewed, and that Mansfield will not be automatically tied to the city’s fate when it comes to removing these restrictions in the future?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I am afraid I must reject what the hon. Gentleman says in the sense that I think he is being inconsistent or trying to have it both ways. Most people, I think, in this country want to see restrictions that get the virus down, and that is what we are bringing forward and supporting. I think most people in this country also want to see support for people who are put out of business through no fault of their own, and that is what we are also providing.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Elliot Colburn (Conservative, Centre-right): Carshalton and Wallington residents have worked hard to keep the virus rate down to one of the lowest levels in London; however, with varying degrees of guidance and restrictions across the country, sometimes the guidance can be difficult to follow and people need clarification. Can my right hon. Friend assure me that this new covid three-level alert system will make it easier for people to understand and ultimately follow the guidance?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
James Barry Daly (Conservative, Centre-right): Pubs, restaurants and cafés in Bury, Ramsbottom and Tottington have invested heavily to create covid-secure environments. That is reflected in the fact that, on the last figures I have, in the last 14 days there were no recorded covid outbreaks in such places and there is no evidence at all of significant transmission of covid in these important community assets. Will the Prime Minister therefore join me in thanking local business owners for their efforts in creating such secure environments, and agree that we should do everything possible to ask local residents, within reason and abiding by Government guidance, to support these important hospitality venues and community assets?