Contributions
3,496 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDCovid-19 ResponseYes. This weekend, I was looking at how to make sure that there is enough testing capacity specifically in Wolverhampton. We are acting to ensure that everybody, right across…18 May 2020HANSARDCovid-19 ResponseYes, I will.18 May 2020HANSARDCovid-19 ResponseI will keep it concise, Mr Speaker—your instruction. The hon. Gentleman is right to ask detailed questions about care homes, because making sure that we have that ring of…18 May 2020HANSARDCovid-19 ResponseWith 21,000 contact tracers now employed, we think that that is capacity for the current level of new cases that have been demonstrated by the Office for National Statistics…18 May 2020HANSARDCovid-19 ResponseMy right hon. Friend rightly points out that we have urgent dental hubs, so anyone who needs urgent dentistry can get a dentist’s appointment through their GP. Many people have…18 May 2020HANSARDCovid-19 ResponseI have looked at this proposal and it is clear that primary legislation is not needed, because the Data Protection Act will do the job.18 May 2020HANSARDCovid-19 ResponseYes. It is true that the early evidence shows that obesity is a major factor in covid-19’s impact on an individual. One early study by Dr Ben Goldacre implied that serious obesity…18 May 2020HANSARDCovid-19 ResponseI think the whole country celebrated when there was the announcement last week that antibody testing that fits the bill and does the job had been approved by our Porton Down labs.…18 May 2020HANSARDCovid-19 ResponseYes, I will. The NHS restart is incredibly important in Lincolnshire and across the country. I know Lincolnshire well, and it is very important that we restart other services that…18 May 2020HANSARDCovid-19 ResponseThe hon. Lady is absolutely right; this is an incredibly important subject, both, as she says, during the crisis and thereafter. We have a study under way, which Public Health…18 May 2020HANSARDCovid-19 ResponseThat is one of the many balances we will have to strike in the months and years to come as we recover from covid-19. There are, immediately, three things we are doing on that. The…18 May 2020HANSARDCovid-19 ResponseAs I have said, in care homes we put in place infection control procedures as much as was possible at the start of this crisis, and there was not an increase in the number of…18 May 2020HANSARDCovid-19 ResponseWith permission, Mr Speaker, I will make a statement on coronavirus. This is the most serious public health emergency in 100 years, but through the combined efforts of the whole…18 May 2020HANSARDCovid-19 ResponseYes, that is absolutely right. Two months ago, the people of Blackpool were told that it would be difficult to get through this without the NHS being overwhelmed across the…18 May 2020HANSARDCovid-19 ResponseWe absolutely did a throw a protective ring around social care, not least with the £3.2 billion-worth of funding we put in right at the start, topped up with £600 million-worth of…18 May 2020HANSARDCovid-19 ResponseYes, I would be very happy to meet my hon. Friend, possibly via Zoom—other videoconferencing services are available—to discuss what Makers 4 the NHS and other voluntary…18 May 2020HANSARDCovid-19 ResponseThe R rate has not doubled in Yorkshire or indeed anywhere else in the country. By contrast, as I said at the start of my statement, the good news is that things are progressing:…18 May 2020HANSARDCovid-19 ResponseObviously, being able to perform all tests within 24 hours would be a great success. We are trying, as much as possible, to shorten the amount of time it takes. The average time…18 May 2020HANSARDCovid-19 ResponseThe answer that I tried to give at the end of my answer—perhaps too long an answer—to my hon. Friend the Member for Ashfield (Lee Anderson) is that, yes, that is something on…18 May 2020HANSARDCovid-19 ResponseOf course we take the decision after looking at the information for the whole country, and we take into account the R rate and the level of new cases and all other data from right…18 May 2020