Contributions
1,745 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateI can tell my hon. Friend about just one of the measures that we are taking. A huge number of tests are carried out—over half a million a day—and that gives us a certain insight…06 Jul 2021HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateThe hon. Gentleman raises the issue of people who are pinged, so to speak, for coming into contact with an infected person and who have to self-isolate. The announcement that I…06 Jul 2021HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateYes, I can absolutely give my hon. Friend that assurance. As well as the extra resources we are putting in, the measures that I have announced today about people not needing to…06 Jul 2021HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateMy hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise the issue of the normal winter pressures. The measures that we had for the pandemic mean that this winter there will be less immunity…06 Jul 2021HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateThe Government have made more than £90 billion of additional funding available to deal with the consequences of the pandemic. Much of that has gone to the NHS and other parts of…06 Jul 2021HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateMy hon. Friend will know that the reason we have seen an increase in demand for A&E across the country is that many people have not been able to go to their GP in the usual way.…06 Jul 2021HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateThat is another very good question. The Education Secretary will be speaking right after me about some of the changes that we are making and how they will affect schools. When it…06 Jul 2021HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateI am very happy to confirm to my hon. Friend that the booster programme will start in September. We still have to get the final advice from the JCVI on exactly how it will work,…06 Jul 2021HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateNo one wants another wave of covid cases. As the hon. Lady will have heard, what is different this time, as we sadly see cases rise, is the vaccine. The link between case numbers…06 Jul 2021HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateYes, I can give my hon. Friend that assurance. He is absolutely right to raise this issue. As we develop our plans, we are absolutely thinking about all those more vulnerable…06 Jul 2021HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateThe hon. Lady is right to highlight the risk that absolutely exists—this pandemic is not over—of new variants. We have seen the impact of variants already, and no one knows what…06 Jul 2021HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateI agree absolutely with my hon. Friend on that. It is fair to say that our effort on vaccines, as a country, has been world-leading. It is certainly the best in Europe in terms of…06 Jul 2021HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateYes, I do agree. The vaccine programme is our wall of protection, and every jab builds that wall higher. As immunity wears off, we need to make sure that people get a booster with…06 Jul 2021HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateThe hon. Lady is absolutely right to draw attention to this issue. One of the worst outcomes of all the restrictions we have necessarily had to have during the pandemic is the…06 Jul 2021HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateAs my hon. Friend says, it is essential that we get GP access back to normal. We can all understand why, during this pandemic, GPs have had to do other jobs such as help us to get…06 Jul 2021HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateThe right policy on masks is the one we set out yesterday, but the hon. Lady is right to raise the concerns about flu this coming winter, for the reasons she mentioned. She asked…06 Jul 2021HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateThe vaccines are our wall of protection. That is what is allowing us to make the decisions that we have made to restore our freedoms and continue down that road, and I think…06 Jul 2021HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateI am looking closely at those recommendations. I want to look at the expert advice of everyone out there who is providing good, sensible advice about how we can come together to…06 Jul 2021HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateI can tell my right hon. Friend that the AstraZeneca-type vaccine being used in India is, I think, referred to as Covishield. We have not used Covishield in the UK, and we are in…06 Jul 2021HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateThe hon. Gentleman is right to point out that there is no risk-free way forward. For the whole world, this pandemic is unprecedented, and leaders across the world are having to…06 Jul 2021