argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Defense
Priti Sushil Patel (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right, and I pay tribute to those individuals who have served our country. I think it is important that the hon. Gentleman knows and the House is aware of the fact that I am currently working with the Secretary of State for Defence on these very cases; we are both looking at this. There will be future announcements coming forward. However, I am well aware of these individual cases—how these individuals have been treated, and the cases and the representations they are making right now—and, quite frankly, we want to correct this.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): I am glad to say that across large parts of the country there is very good evidence that tier 3 restrictions are working and the rates are coming down, but we need to be vigilant and, as the hon. Gentleman knows, overall rates are no longer coming down, hence we are having to take further action The hon. Gentleman talked in particular about the lessons from Liverpool; the primary lesson from Liverpool is that when everybody pulls together and everybody makes the sacrifices that are necessary for their whole community, we can really get this thing under control. I am grateful to colleagues across London and Essex and Hertfordshire, to whom I have been talking today, who are committed to working to ensure that we get the public health messages out first and foremost, and to the Mayor and the Conservative candidate for Mayor, who are both committed to working on behalf of the capital and, of course, those parts of Essex and Kent and Hertfordshire that are affected, because the single best thing that we can all do is speak with one voice about what is needed to get this virus under control The hon. Gentleman asked about Christmas, and my recommendation to people is to be cautious and careful. He asked about NHS funding and staffing; of course we have the strongest funding in history for the NHS, and I am delighted to say that we have more nurses in the NHS than ever before—14,000 more nurses than this time last year. I pay tribute to each and every one of them The hon. Gentleman asked about contact tracing and no doubt he will have seen the figures published on Thursday, which show that contact tracing now reaches over 80% of contacts. I pay tribute to the team, both local and national, who are ensuring that we can get to more than four fifths of people whom we need to reach, and that has been rapidly improving. Finally, the hon. Gentleman asked about Fred, the gentleman with terminal cancer whom he spoke to this morning. Those with terminal cancer are, of course, clinically vulnerable by the nature of that awful disease, and we will ensure that those who are clinically vulnerable get access to the vaccine when clinically appropriate. I am very happy to take up the individual case he raises and ensure that Fred gets a fair deal All in all, I am grateful for the hon. Gentleman’s support for the measures we have outlined today and of course for the vaccine programme, which is rolling out across the country right now.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Health
Jeremy Richard Streynsham Hunt (Conservative, Centre-right): These are incredibly difficult decisions, but I wholly support them, because the evidence from all over the world is that acting early and decisively is the best way to save both lives and jobs. It would be perverse in the extreme if we were to take our foot off the pedal so close to rolling out the vaccine However, may I first ask the Secretary of State about the new strain? He said that it is highly unlikely that the vaccine will not work with a new strain. When will we know for sure? Are any trials going on? Will he get more up-to-date scientific information anytime soon Secondly, may I ask the Secretary of State for clarity? With just 11 days before Christmas, lots of people will be thinking about Christmas shopping. From Wednesday, will it be against the regulations for those living outside London to go to Oxford Street to do their Christmas shopping? Will that also be against the regulations for those living inside London? Is the only way legally to do Christmas shopping now to go online?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): First, on my right hon. Friend’s question about the new variant, it is being assessed in Porton Down right now. As I said in my statement, the medical advice that we have is that it is highly unlikely that this new variant will impinge on the impact of the vaccine, but we will know that in the coming days and weeks as the new strand is cultured at Porton Down and then, of course, tests are conducted on it My right hon. Friend’s question about Christmas shopping is important. It is recommended that people should minimise travel, unless it is necessary, in a tier 3 area, and should minimise travel, unless it is necessary, to a tier 3 area. We have taken this action to try to protect people and to try to slow the spread of this virus, and that is absolutely the right thing to do.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): I think that this argument against testing is wrong. I think that we should test, test, test, and that is what this Government are doing. We are working very closely with the Government in Scotland, from the same party that the hon. Lady represents, to make sure that we use testing as widely as possible to find people who have this virus. Yes, of course different tests have different characteristics. The lateral flow tests find around 70% of those who are infectious. That means that if we test people who would not otherwise have been tested, we find the positive cases, we can get them to isolate and we can break the chains of transmission. I strongly urge the hon. Lady to go back, to study the details and to back the testing programme that we have in this country.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Health
George Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative, Centre-right): I fully recognise my right hon. Friend’s serious dilemmas—it is not an enviable position—but the application of tier 3 to London raises some questions. I have had long conversations in my borough with public health and the hospitals, and they maintain that the infection rate is now almost exclusively among secondary schoolchildren, who pass it on to their parents—those two least at-risk groups—so the hospitals are not overcrowded, with spare beds in the intensive care units and a very low level of covid patients in the hospitals Tier 3 will hammer down on the one area that does control what happens, which is hospitality. The key here, surely, is that doing that will cause people to shift back to their homes, and it is that area that we would worry about, with off-licences selling alcohol late in the evening. Will my right hon. Friend try to seek some kind of flexibility so that these measures target better the real risk and do not just hammer those who have been doing the right thing?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): We are always open to finding new ways to protect the economy as much as possible and bring the virus under control. I share my right hon. Friend’s desire to get it under control and to keep it under control until a vaccine can make us safe, but unfortunately this is no longer just a problem among school-age children in Waltham Forest and north-east London, which it has been until the last week’s data. The case rate among the over-60s in Waltham Forest is now over 250 and we are seeing that rising over the last week. We are also seeing rising admissions to hospital. I have a huge amount of sympathy for everybody affected by these decisions in Waltham Forest, but it is absolutely essential to get this under control now to protect the NHS from being overwhelmed in the future. We must break the inexorable link from cases now to hospitalisations in the future—and, sadly, deaths—by using the vaccine and by testing. Until we can have the vaccine fully rolled out and people inoculated by having their second dose, and until enough vulnerable people have had that second dose and have therefore become inoculated, unfortunately measures like this are necessary.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Health
Bernard Christison Jenkin (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my right hon. Friend for his statement, albeit that it contains a lot of very grim news about the virus itself and its effect on many areas. It will be greeted with considerable relief in Harwich, Clacton, Colchester and Uttlesford, where the virus rates are much lower and we will stay in tier 2. Is the message now not that we stay in tier 2 or go down a tier much more by our own efforts—by the efforts of local authorities, with the support of NHS Test and Trace—to make sure we support those who have to isolate and track down and trace those who are spreading the virus? By doing that, and by compliance and forbearance, we can reduce the spread of the virus and help to defeat it so we can get down the tiers.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): Yes. My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Trying to keep the virus under control is in the hands of local authorities and local communities. I would say to everybody in Harwich, and people across the south-east and east of England who have not gone into tier 3 today, that we all still need to work together, be vigilant and effectively do everything we can to stop the spread of the disease, because so many people are asymptomatic—about a third—and never have any symptoms but can nevertheless spread the disease. I am very grateful to my hon. Friend for the work he has done in giving me ideas to support colleagues to help in that effort. The links between the national system and local authorities are getting stronger all the time, and I want colleagues to be able to play our part—especially as, through our campaigning, we know our communities well—by getting into communities to spread the message that if we all stick by the rules and we get the testing and contact tracing in, we will be able to keep this under control.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): No. First, there is a record number of NHS staff, thanks to this Conservative Government. There is a record number of nurses—we have 14,000 more nurses. What I say to people in Devon, which is currently in tier 2, but with low rates, is do not take it for granted. Let us all work together and try to get Devon into tier 1. In Exeter, those rates have come down really sharply in the last few weeks. Let us keep working at it, and let us keep those public health messages going in relation to not only coronavirus, but the importance of eating fruit.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): I would recommend people to exercise caution over Christmas, especially with respect to seeing elderly relatives, who, of course, people are yearning to see. I understand that, but I think it is important that people not only abide by the rules, but take personal responsibility in case they have coronavirus and might be passing it on, but do not have any symptoms and do not know about it.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Health
Robert Henry Halfon (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend will know that I have supported all the measures that have been put in place, and I have put my faith in the Government and the scientists and medical officers. However, I have real worries about Harlow in Essex being put into tier 3, as local hospitality businesses are really struggling and on their knees. I would be grateful if he could explain how further restrictions will curb the disease, given that cases increased in Harlow during the second national lockdown. I understand that the virus has recently stabilised in Harlow and that there has been no rate of increase in the over-60s in the last week. Further to this, the overall increase in cases in Harlow is 12% against a regional average of 40%, so I ask him to consider keeping Harlow in tier 2.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): Unfortunately, cases are rising in Harlow and in the districts of Essex and Hertfordshire nearby, so we do have to take the action that we are. What I say to my right hon. Friend, who is an incredible champion of Harlow and his local community, is let us work together to get this down, let us work together to get this done and let us work together to try to get Harlow back into tier 2 as soon as possible, not just to save lives and protect the NHS in Harlow, but to give people their livelihoods back.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): On the contrary, all the safety checks that are necessary have been carried out and we continue to monitor the roll-out of the vaccine throughout the UK. The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency has done a terrific job on that and continues to do so. For instance, my team and the MHRA were having an update assessment on Saturday morning to check the progress of the first week’s roll-out, and I am delighted to say that we are able to keep doing that. I say to the hon. Gentleman and everybody else who wants to see the impact of the vaccine: look at the faces of those who have had their first dose, and how pleased they are to have it and to be able to get that step closer to protection from this awful disease.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): As you know, Mr Speaker, we look in great detail and at a granular level at the geographies that these restrictions have to cover. Unfortunately, central London’s case rates are rising, and we know that if an area is surrounded by other areas where there are significant increases then those high rates tend to move into that area if it is left out of a set of restrictions. I understand, of course, the impact on the economy, but the very clear public health advice was that London should move together because all areas of London are seeing an increase in rates and we need to stop that.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): It is important that we use the right tests in the right circumstances but with the right other conditions. So for instance, there is clear visitor guidance of which testing is one part, but personal protective equipment is another critical part. The nuanced question of the hon. Gentleman is entirely reasonable, but the thing that I find frustrating is the idea that we should discourage people from coming forward for asymptomatic testing when the task is to find as many people as possible who have the virus to get them to isolate. Yes, we should ensure that visiting care homes is done as safely as possible—there are health upsides to visiting as well as the challenges posed by the virus—but in terms of asymptomatic testing, I encourage people, where tests are available, to come forward, because that is how we find where this virus is and help to isolate it.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Health
Nigel John Mills (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the Secretary of State for the roll-out of lateral flow tests across Derbyshire. When he does his reassessment on Wednesday, will he be willing to look at more localised geography, perhaps based around hospital catchment areas, and divide the county of Derbyshire between north and south, rather than use the whole county, which is not a very functional geography on the ground?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): The good news is that the contact tracing across England is increasing in capacity. It is getting faster and it is finding more and more contacts. The comparison of apples and pears that continues to come from those on the SNP Front Bench does not take into account the fact that if we contact trace in a care home, the contact tracing is much easier, and that if we include that contact tracing in the data, we get different answers. This obsession with "public sector good, private sector bad" has been going on for months and it is just as wrong now as it was six months ago.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Health
Alicia Alexandra Martha Kearns (Conservative, Centre-right): Today’s news is deeply sombre, so I ask my right hon. Friend to join me in urging residents of Rutland and Melton to be vigilant because we are also seeing cases rising locally, even in our villages. We have to get rates under control if we are to be decoupled from Leicester city, remain at most in tier 2 in Rutland, and protect ourselves from this new variant. Will he join me in thanking those who are working so hard locally to ready our vaccine hubs in Oakham and Melton for once the vaccine is ready for delivery outside of hospitals?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): Yes, of course; absolutely. I am delighted that we are now vaccinating from over 100 different community settings, as well as 70 hospitals across the UK. It is a tribute to the whole vaccine roll-out team, who have done a magnificent job over the last—I was going to say over the last week that the vaccine has been rolling out, but it has been weeks and weeks in the planning before then. I would say to residents in Melton and Rutland that we will look at Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland separately when we make the decision on tiering on Wednesday. Those in Rutland who are in tier 2 still need to work at it and do their bit to try to keep Rutland in tier 2, and, of course, hopefully get to tier 1. It is so important that everybody does their bit.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Health
Nicola Jane Aiken (Conservative, Centre-right): I am obviously very disappointed by the news that London is going into tier 3, but, having seen the data and spoken to Public Health England in London and to the hospitals in my constituency, I am fully aware of the threat that this awful virus continues to present to us all. Hospitality in particular has done so much to become covid-secure, but, sadly, we are where we are. I think of our hospitals and the amazing job that our NHS staff are doing day in, day out, night in, night out. The acute hospital trusts in my constituency are handling covid cases from across London, and one of the major concerns that they have raised with me is the length of time for which staff must isolate after a positive covid contact. I understand that lateral flow testing in hospitals allows staff to return to work safely after five days, rather than 14. Can my right hon. Friend confirm that the roll-out of lateral flow tests will be prioritised in hospitals where cases are increasing?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): The short answer is yes. We are rolling out lateral flow testing to find asymptomatic cases in hospitals right across England. We are always looking for ways to reduce the burden of isolation needed for positive contacts. May I pay tribute to my hon. Friend’s leadership? These are difficult decisions and it is difficult to explain to people why these measures are necessary given the impact that they have, but she is quite right to do so. Her analysis is that the best way of London coming through this is by presenting a united front, and all of us working together to get the case rates down; that is how we will best get through this together.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Health
Simon Richard James Fell (Conservative, Centre-right): We are delighted to have the first vaccinations rolling out in Furness this week, but we know that information is key to understanding and tackling this virus. With that in mind, will my right hon. Friend consider adding data to the Government’s coronavirus website on the number of people, by cohort, who have been vaccinated and on the number of people who have been infected by this new variant of the virus?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): Of course, we will be publishing data on the number of vaccinations done—that is important. Meanwhile, let us all keep getting out there to make the case that the best way to keep you, your loved ones and your community safe is by getting vaccinated when the NHS calls.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Health
Christopher Lionel John Loder (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my right hon. Friend very much for his statement, and I fully understand the difficulties he faces. He will know that I am the Member for West Dorset, a rural seat whose western part is 55 miles away from the commercial centre of Bournemouth, which is the driving force of our tiering in rural Dorset. We have consistently maintained low numbers of cases, and on Friday we had just one person with covid in our county hospital. Although I understand full well that my right hon. Friend has had to consider increasing the tier in different places in the UK today, will he, for Wednesday, consider reductions to tier 1 in areas where that is appropriate, as I believe it is in Dorset?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): I will look at this extremely closely after my hon. Friend’s entreaty. I have been noticing that in both West Dorset and Bournemouth the number of cases has been coming down. I say to everybody: stick at it, stick at the rules and do everything you can to reduce the number of transmissions. That is the most likely way of getting into tier 1.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): If the hon. Gentleman has an individual case of a school in that situation and he could let me know, we will sort that out, because in general the links between local directors of public health and the schools to tackle these sorts of problems are pretty good.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Health
Aaron Stuart Bell (Conservative, Centre-right): I know the whole House was thrilled at those wonderful images last week of people receiving their vaccines, including at the Royal Stoke University Hospital. Like other hospitals across the country, it has been gearing up for that really emotional moment for months. Like the NHS in general, it has a lot of experience of delivering these vaccine programmes, so will my right hon. Friend assure me that we will roll out this vaccine, and any others that get approved, as quickly as possible and as quickly as manufacturing allows?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): Yes, that is absolutely the goal. I pay tribute to everybody at the Royal Stoke, and it was wonderful to see some of the examples of those who have been vaccinated. Stoke has been having a rough time of it of late and we need to make sure not only that we get the virus under control, but that that vaccine is rolled out, not just in the city centre, but in communities right across Stoke and Staffordshire.