Covid-19: Track and Trace System
Baroness Wheeler Excerpts(4 years, 5 months ago)
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Lord Bethell [V]
I pay tribute to the perseverance of the noble Baroness on the issue of interpreters. She is entirely right that marginal communities are incredibly important in this process and can be like rockpools when the tide recedes—left as areas of infection if we do not focus on them effectively. That is why we are working extremely hard to identify those communities that might be left behind and to use resources such as interpreters to ensure that the message gets through.
Baroness Wheeler (Lab) [V]
My Lords, the ambition of the Minister, reported yesterday, to get a national “track and trace” system going before the winter is in marked contrast to the hype and promises of the test trial launched in May, when Matt Hancock promised that where the Isle of Wight leads, Britain follows—though obviously now not until Christmas. Does the Minister acknowledge that the failure to have an effective system up and running this summer will have a huge impact across vital services, including residential and nursing care homes? Do the Government expect care homes not to open for regular and routine visits from family, friends and others until the end of the year?
Lord Bethell [V]
I do not agree with that analysis. I am afraid that areas such as care homes are where the app is least effective, because the residents are static and therefore the app is not really the facility for identifying infections. This is where the manual “test and trace” process is the most effective. That is why we are super-focused on getting it right. We are working very closely with the social care community to ensure that the “test and trace” systems are working well. We are flooding social care with tests and ensuring that our tracing agents are well trained to handle local outbreaks in care homes and to deal with care home staff.
Social Distancing: Two-metre Rule
Baroness Wheeler Excerpts(4 years, 5 months ago)
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Baroness Wheeler (Lab) [V]
My Lords, the National Audit Office is the latest in a long line of independent organisations and care bodies to conclude that people and staff in care homes are an afterthought in the Government’s planning for Covid-19. We know that hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people who are shielding from the disease were not warned or included in the last-minute government decision on 30 May to lift shielding. Will the Minister please reassure the House that the impact of any change to two-metre social distancing in care homes, social care and for people whose shielding periods are coming to an end will be fully considered in the review and that advice to them will be a key part of the revised guidelines in good time for any 4 July announcement?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Care (Lord Bethell) (Con) [V]
The noble Baroness highlights an incredibly important consideration in the review on the two-metre rule. Clearly, those who are vulnerable or in social care deserve the best protection necessary. SAGE has been extremely clear that two metres provides emphatically more protection than one metre, and the protection of our vulnerable people will be an important consideration in any review.
Exercise Cygnus
Baroness Wheeler Excerpts(4 years, 5 months ago)
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Lord Bethell [V]
I assure the noble and right reverend Lord that operation Cygnus happened in 2016 and the recommendations were completed by spring 2018. However, it is possible that nothing could have prepared us for the ferocity of Covid. Operation Cygnus prepared us for a flu pandemic and not for something with the savagery of Covid-19.
Baroness Wheeler (Lab) [V]
The Secretary of State for Health said in relation to Cygnus and the failure to implement key recommendations and warnings on PPE stocks, ventilators, testing and tracing, and scaling up the public health system, that
“everything that was appropriate to do was done.”
To demonstrate this clearly and with evidence, why are the Government not prepared to be open and transparent and to publish the report and recommendations, or to show what action they took on findings of two subsequent major planning exercises with similar warnings: Exercise Iris in 2018, covering a possible pandemic in Scotland, and last year’s crucial national security risk assessment?
Lord Bethell [V]
My Lords, it is necessary for the preparations for such civil emergencies to be made in a confidential fashion so that the unthinkable can be thought and plans can be made in a trusted and benign environment. Publication of these reports is not in the national interest and we do not have plans to publish them in the future.
Covid-19: Care Homes
Baroness Wheeler Excerpts(4 years, 6 months ago)
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Baroness Wheeler (Lab)
My Lords, this Urgent Question taken yesterday in the Commons on coronavirus and care homes covered much of the ground in the Statement taken by us last night. Sadly, it is clear that Ministers’ claims to have thrown a protective ring around care homes ring hollow in the light of the latest ONS figures on deaths in care homes: 9,495 residents in England and 480 in Wales. These figures are still ringing alarm bells, as the number of deaths involving Covid-19 as a percentage of all care home deaths continues to rise this week. As Martin Green of Care England told MPs yesterday, most care home residents should have been prioritised from the start. He also stressed that there are still huge issues with testing, with results lost and staff waiting eight to 10 days to find out whether they have coronavirus.
I ask the Minister about reports on the PHE study on genome tracking to investigate outbreaks in care homes, which last month found that bank and temporary agency care workers, often employed on zero-hours contracts, had unwittingly transmitted Covid-19 between care homes as cases surged and they were moved from home to home to cover staff vacancies. Does this not raise even further doubts and questions about this ring of protection? Why was this issue not recognised early on as a crucial factor in any infection-control strategy?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Care (Lord Bethell) (Con)
My Lords, the issue the noble Baroness raises was recognised in the very early stages. The problem of itinerant staff who move from one resident or patient to another was always going to be one of the most difficult to tackle. They perform an absolutely vital role in the care of non-domiciliary patients. That is why we put more money in to pay for more staff, provided PPE for the staff who were working and continue to upgrade the testing arrangements for both staff and patients, to ensure that they are protected.
Covid-19: BAME NHS Staff
Baroness Wheeler Excerpts(4 years, 6 months ago)
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Lord Bethell
As I mentioned in my previous Answer, arrangements have been put in place for local trusts to risk-assess all employees, including BAME nurses, and to assess whether they are at a higher risk and, if necessary, to change their rotas and staffing arrangements accordingly. I understand that some trusts have already taken these measures.
Baroness Wheeler (Lab)
My Lords, I pay tribute to my noble friend Lady Lawrence for the leading role she is playing in finding out why BAME communities and health workers are disproportionately bearing the brunt of Covid-19.I understand that the Public Health England review of ethnic minority health records and data is due to report at the end of May. It is looking into how factors such as ethnicity, deprivation, age, gender and obesity can affect the impact of Covid-19. People from ethnic minorities may also be at a higher risk due to the prevalence of co-morbidities such as diabetes, cardiovascular conditions and sickle cell disease. Overall, black people are dying with Covid-19 at almost double the rate of white people. Can the Minister say what the next steps will be after the PHE review and what are the Government’s plans, remits and timescale for the more in-depth analysis and inquiry that is needed to better understand entrenched health inequalities and to respond to the needs of BAME communities and health staff?
Lord Bethell
The noble Baroness put this very well. We are deeply concerned about genetic differences between groups. This virus is like malaria and other viruses in that it affects different ethnic groups differently. We are concerned about behavioural issues such as diet and environmental issues such as urban versus rural living arrangements. We have already invited health trusts to put in place arrangements to protect our BAME NHS workers. We are also inviting other academic studies, of which there is a large number, to look at the various concerns about how the virus has hit different groups. We will be commissioning a very large amount of medical research into this important area.
Care Homes: Covid-19 Testing
Baroness Wheeler Excerpts(4 years, 6 months ago)
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Baroness Wheeler
To ask Her Majesty’s Government which department or non-departmental public body is responsible for the programme of COVID-19 testing in care homes in England; and when they expect all care homes to be offered COVID-19 tests.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Care (Lord Bethell) (Con)
My Lords, I assure the House that the provision of tests for care home staff and patients is a number one priority for the Department of Health and Social Care. We are currently making available 30,000 tests a day through satellite, mobile and at-home channels. By early June we aim to have offered tests to all care home residents and staff specialising in the care of older people and those living with dementia.
Baroness Wheeler (Lab)
My Lords, the Minister will be aware that there have been stark warnings from across the sector that, unless testing of staff and residents in care homes is urgently and significantly improved, there could be a second peak in deaths, potentially coinciding with the autumn flu season. Lives are being put at risk and conditions for dementia sufferers have worsened because of the continued failure to test hundreds of thousands of staff and residents. While the DHSC, the CQC and Public Health England will squabble over who is responsible and what each has or has not done, the Government’s own recovery strategy document now admits that they cannot even guarantee that every care home will be offered testing until 6 June, so we have yet another false and misleading promise. The Government themselves admit that only tens of thousands of tests have so far been done in care homes, and over 1.5 million are needed to cover staff and residents. Will the Minister explain to the House how he plans to get to grips with the total and tragic chaos that currently prevails?
Lord Bethell
My Lords, I completely acknowledge the threat of a second peak. It focuses the mind and is very much a priority for the Government, but there is no squabble of the kind the noble Baroness describes. I pay tribute to colleagues at the CQC, Public Health England, the NHS and the private care providers with which we work. Care home testing is offered to all care home staff and patients who need it. We are prioritising those who ask for it first and working through the list for any who need it by early June.
Covid-19: Social Care Services
Baroness Wheeler Excerpts(4 years, 7 months ago)
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Baroness Wheeler
That the Virtual Proceedings do consider the short- and long-term impact of Her Majesty’s Government’s approach to the COVID-19 pandemic on the provision and delivery of social and domiciliary care for disabled and vulnerable adults and children, and the case for ensuring the sustainability of social care services.
Baroness Wheeler (Lab)
My Lords, I will start today’s important debate in the way I know noble Lords from across the House will want me to: by recording our deep sadness and regret for the loss of the now 19,609 people across the UK who are known to have died from this terrible disease in hospitals, care homes and their own homes. We know that the true figure, due to delays in recording and reporting, is likely to be considerably higher. Our sympathy and thoughts are with their families, friends and the people who will have cared for them: relatives, NHS and social and community care staff. As a dedicated care manager in a small Nottinghamshire home, where deaths to suspected Covid-19 had reached a total of nine residents—a third of the people under her care—put it, she thought of them as “family”. “It’s just soul destroying,” she said, adding:
“We have deaths normally, but they are good deaths with their family around them.”
As the weeks go on, Parliament will rightly focus on the continuing fight across health and social care to halt the spread of the disease and on the care of patients and staff currently suffering from it. Staff across these services have been putting their lives on the line, and sadly we see reports that over 100 have now died as a result of this dedication. Our thoughts are also with their families, friends and colleagues, and of course we are for ever grateful to all our NHS and social care staff, who are working tirelessly to help us deal with the crisis.
Today’s debate is the time to take a hard look at the short and long-term impact of Covid-19 on social care. It is vital to continue to step up the pressure on the Government to deliver on what have too often, sadly, been woefully inadequate and seriously belated promises and actions on social care. We also need to take stock and identify what the current social care response to this pandemic tells us about how a similar crisis must be handled in the future, and how, in the years to come, social care is organised, funded, delivered and staffed, and properly mainstreamed into our health and care system.
We know that there is widespread frustration and dismay in the social care sector that once again it has been a plan-B afterthought. The Government’s social care plan was finally published last week, five weeks after the plan for the NHS. From the outset, Labour has made it clear that we want the Government to succeed in dealing with this huge crisis and we have pledged to work constructively with them. But we have also made it clear that we will challenge where there are mistakes that can be put right and where we think something is not happening that needs to, and we will closely scrutinise the decisions made. It was in that spirit of constructive engagement that we fully co-operated with the Covid-19 Bill before the Recess, and in which we want today’s debate to be framed.
In the same vein, we have repeatedly called for urgent action on the supply and delivery of personal protection equipment and for the testing of all NHS and social care staff for the virus, and we have proposed ways that will help to turn the situation round. Last weekend’s Public Health England announcement, changing guidelines on the need for full-length protective gowns for doctors and nurses treating Covid-19 patients because supplies were due to run out, has just added to the despair felt by staff in the NHS and social care over not having the essential equipment that they need to keep patients and themselves safe. Being told to reuse equipment, or not to waste it, and the stop-start big announcements of targets or shipments on their way just decreases morale still further and makes the situation even worse.
On care homes and domiciliary services, even the most ardent of cheerleaders for the Government, such as the Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail, have recognised and been highly critical of the chaos surrounding testing and PPE. Key charities—the Alzheimer’s Society, Marie Curie, Care England and Age UK—have talked about the “devastation” in the care system, with the lack of testing and PPE meaning that staff are putting their lives at risk while also carrying the virus to vulnerable groups.
On 16 April, ADAS—the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services—summed up the PPE situation as “shambolic”, with early PPE drops in the care sector “paltry” and more recent deliveries “haphazard”, with “confusion and additional workload” resulting from the mixed messages and poor communications between the two key government departments: local government and health. We know that care home managers have been desperately driving miles around trying to buy masks, gloves, gowns and other vital PPE to try to halt the spread of the disease in care homes, with many staff making their own masks or having to use the same masks and other items all day. All this involves huge extra costs for care homes. The care provider MHA, for example, had to purchase 200,000 masks at five times the usual cost.
Full PPE is just as important to staff in care homes nursing residents with suspected Covid-19 as it is in hospital and NHS care settings. It is also vital if families are to be allowed into care homes to be with their very ill or dying loved ones. The recent change in government guidance on this is very welcome, but it can happen only if homes have full PPE, testing and other important procedures in place to protect staff, residents and their relatives. Can the Minister now provide an exact date by which all those working in social care will have the continual, adequate supply of PPE of the required standard so that they can do their jobs in safety?
From the outset, care homes have underlined that patients should be transferred from hospital only after they have been Covid-19 tested, but this essential requirement was not in the original guidance and has not been followed in many areas. Can the Minister confirm that new guidance will be issued on this very basic requirement, with accompanying levels of PPE? Will care homes and care home providers be refunded the full and crippling extra costs for PPE, including covering the spiralling prices which the shortages have led to? We know that residential care is in a precarious financial state, with many homes facing closure, and that the UK Homecare Association fears that financial pressures resulting from Covid-19 could force a significant number of the UK’s 8,000 home care providers to close within weeks.
On funding, the Government have rightly said that the NHS will get whatever resources it needs to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic. Can the Minister categorically state that this also applies to social care? This means covering the extra costs not just of PPE but of staffing in care homes and home care to pay for increased staff, staff sickness and vacancies, and other care costs.
On testing, Labour has strongly stressed the urgent need for testing of patients and staff in care homes, and for a clear and detailed plan on how this is to be actioned and achieved. Not testing new or returning residents, for example, risks contaminating care homes where elderly and vulnerable people are supposed to be “shielded”—a policy described by care home providers as
“importing death into care homes.”
New testing for all residents with symptoms and for all those being transferred into homes has been announced. Can the Minister tell the House how and where those who have tested positive will be effectively isolated? Will extra resources be provided to care homes for this? Since the lockdown began, care homes have sealed themselves off, banning visitors and introducing social distancing for staff and residents, but caring for Covid-19 residents is staff-intensive, requiring barrier nursing of residents in single rooms.
In home care, which is widely acknowledged to be the most fragile part of the social care system, Covid-19 presents a particular challenge for care workers who visit multiple clients a day, every day, in their homes. Routine testing and access to PPE are essential. With no centralised record of the numbers of people needing support, there are fears that people might be left without care or even dying alone at home without care. What action have the Government taken to prevent this happening?
A detailed plan is also needed for how and when the Government will test all the 1.4 million front-line social care staff, to include domiciliary home care staff and staff working as personal assistants, who are doing a vital job of looking after disabled and mentally ill people in their homes through direct payments. Only 505 social care staff have so far been tested. How will this number be escalated to meet the needs? Can testing centres cope with the proposed volume of testing? What plans are there for providing testing arrangements locally for staff who cannot drive or do not have time to drive the often very long distances involved? What will the criteria be for social care staff being eligible if, for example, they do not have symptoms but have been in contact with someone who has tested positive for Covid-19?
Under the emergency Covid-19 Bill, there was deep consternation and fear across the House that the temporary suspension of rights under the Care Act 2014 on care and carer assessments, eligibility and care packages would result in care standards being lowered or even ended, putting disabled and vulnerable adults and children at risk.
As a carer of a 75 year-old stroke recover, I know how much carers depend on vital social care support in the home and the community and many carers have spoken to me about their concerns. Can the Minister tell the House what national monitoring arrangements and oversight mechanisms have been put in place to keep this situation under close review? Does he have any national data on the number of councils that have had to revise existing care packages and arrangements in the light of Covid-19?
For the future, Labour’s new leader, Sir Keir Starmer, this weekend called for a new settlement for social care: an ambition for society that puts dignity and respect at the heart of how we care for the most vulnerable, and how we properly reward our key health and social care workers and repay the debt we owe to all those who have sacrificed so much during the Covid-19 crisis.
We must learn from the current crisis about how social care should be valued, resourced and delivered in the future. Under Covid-19, the broken care system is at least getting some of the long-overdue attention it needs and deserves. Surely the public cannot be in any doubt any longer about how essential it is. Treating social care needs as secondary to NHS needs has almost become a default system for the sector. As so often in the past, the current crisis sees yet again stakeholders, staff and charities warning the Government that older people’s lives are not worthless and that care home staff are not second-class carers. This is the reality of how the sector has had to struggle for recognition and funding.
I hope the Minister will reassure the House that the Government now recognise that we must have proper planning for pandemics on the scale of Covid-19, a system that goes across health and social care, for the future. Clear responsibilities must be given to the key NHS, social care and public health lead agencies and, as used to happen in the past, sufficient stockpiles of protection and testing equipment must be regularly monitored and updated. We have now seen all too well that this is not money wasted, to be first in line for austerity cuts or dumping in favour of no-deal Brexit planning. Integrated data across health and social care which accurately reflects what is happening on the ground is a key requirement for any future plan.
Secondly, we have to address the overall health and social care structure. The commissioning, duplication and bureaucracy of the Lansley NHS structure, the fragmented multi-provider structure of residential, home and community care and the precarious method of funding have to be addressed if we are ever to have fully integrated care. As we have learned from this pandemic, public health provision and planning needs to be across health and social care.
Thirdly, local authorities must be properly resourced for the social care duties they undertake under the Care Act. We know that £7.7 billion has been cut from council budgets since 2010. Of the £2.9 billion welcome extra funding for councils for Covid-19, only 10% of the initial £1.6 billion was allocated to social care. The additional money, however welcome, allocated to a desperately underfunded service which was in crisis before the pandemic, barely touches the cash crisis that social care faces.
Fourthly, we must treat staff with the respect that they deserve as the professionals they are. Home and domiciliary care pay rates do not match those of NHS staff, who themselves do not receive the pay which reflects the vital work they do. Some 1.4 million people work in the social care sector. Care workers are often employed by agencies on zero-hours contracts. It is hardly surprising that, even before the Covid-19 outbreak, there were 122,000 care worker vacancies and that annual staff turnover is 30%. More than one-third of care home staff are currently believed to be off work or self-isolating.
Finally, future social care planning has to include basic personal care support in people’s homes for those in need, including the 1.4 million older people that Age UK has identified who need help with washing, dressing and going to the toilet that they currently do not get. This is why Labour strongly supports a national care service and we know that the Lords Economic Affairs Committee rightly supports this, too.
I am so grateful that so many noble Lords are contributing today, covering many issues that I just have not had time to cover. In conclusion, the coronavirus pandemic has brought the deep crisis in social care to the fore. We no longer live in a society where social care can be delivered on a shoestring budget, under a system routinely starved of funding that relies on periodic cash boosts to prop it up and save it from total collapse, and in which care workers are overworked, undervalued and underpaid. In other words, we cannot just applaud the front-line workers every Thursday and then go back to business as usual. I beg to move.
Baroness Wheeler
My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have participated in this excellent and powerful debate. I thank the Minister for his thoughtful response, but however thoughtful it was it is clear that many questions remain unanswered and that we will need to ensure that they continue to the brought to the fore and be dealt with by the Government in future Questions, Statements, debates and legislation.
Noble Lords have stressed the need to be open and honest about the challenges that social care faces and about the good and bad news. I am sure the Minister will take that message to heart. Despite the challenges, I want to stress that it is truly heartening to know that this terrible disease has at least been a wake-up call for the Government and the public about the importance of adequate social care for millions of adults and children in need of it and about the value, respect and decent pay that the 1.4 million staff deserve and must be given.
The Deputy Speaker (Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall) (Lab)
My Lords, it is a privilege to be the first—I think—to put the question in a virtual Chamber that this Motion be agreed.
Covid-19: Care Home Deaths
Baroness Wheeler Excerpts(4 years, 7 months ago)
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Baroness Wheeler
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the analysis by Care England which suggests that there have been significantly more deaths caused by Covid-19 in care homes than have been reported.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Care (Lord Bethell) (Con)
My Lords, the need for daily figures means that there are two official publications: first, the daily figure that is used in the No. 10 presentation, which includes deaths of care home residents in hospitals but not those who die in the home; and, secondly, a weekly figure produced by the ONS which covers all locations of death, including care homes, but which has an 11-day lag.
Baroness Wheeler (Lab)
I thank the Minister for his response. Both Care England and the National Care Forum report an alarming increase in the number of care home deaths, with estimates of more than 6,000 deaths above this week’s official ONS figure of 1,043; we already know that these figures are 12 days out of date when they are published. The National Care Forum has called for the Government to build a ring of steel around care homes to safeguard the most vulnerable among us, with providers suggesting that doctors and nurses should be urgently deployed to fight Covid-19 in homes for older people. They rightly stress that an unprecedented situation calls for an unprecedented plan, as we have had in hospitals. What is the Minister’s response?
Lord Bethell
The noble Baroness is entirely right. This is an evil disease which strikes the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions the worst, and those who live in care homes are the most vulnerable. The Government have sought to put a ring of steel in place. We have resourced care homes enormously. Testing is now being focused on care homes to try to reduce the prevalence of the disease, and we will continue to focus on protecting our care homes.
Dementia: Accident and Emergency
Baroness Wheeler Excerpts(4 years, 8 months ago)
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Baroness Wheeler
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking as a result of the analysis published by the Alzheimer’s Society on 22 January showing a 34.5 per cent increase in the number of people with dementia being admitted to accident and emergency departments in 2017–18.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Care (Lord Bethell) (Con)
My Lords, we are implementing our Challenge on Dementia 2020 commitment to make this the best country in the world to live with dementia. The NHS long-term plan commits the NHS in England to improving the care provided to people with dementia and their carers, including through supporting people in the community and avoiding unnecessary admissions to hospital. People should receive high-quality care in hospital and be discharged in a timely and appropriate way.
Baroness Wheeler (Lab)
I thank the Minister for his response and congratulate him on behalf of these Benches on his confirmation in his post. We look forward to continuing the good and constructive working relationship we have had with him since he took up this brief.
These findings from the Alzheimer’s Society research are truly shocking. The 34% increase in emergency admissions of dementia patients to A&E departments represents an increase of 100,000 patients over five years—the equivalent of over 1,000 patients each day. Much of this is the result of the scarcity of appropriate care support in the community or of care home places able to provide the specialist dementia care that is needed. Does this not also underline the scale of the problem the NHS faces in freeing up hospital beds to address demands from future coronavirus hospital admissions? What is the Government’s strategy for ensuring the continuing care for people with dementia in the coming months and in the longer term? Will further guidance and funding be issued to hospitals and care homes specifically to deal with this situation?
Lord Bethell
The noble Baroness will be aware that the identification of dementia patients in England has risen dramatically from 42% to 67%, which more than accounts for the increase in the Alzheimer’s Society’s numbers. We are, however, concerned about this issue and remain focused on pulling together a new challenge on dementia strategy for the next five years and on ensuring that beds are liberated in a timely and reasonable fashion.
Coronavirus is naturally a matter of high concern in our preparations. Care of existing vulnerable and lonely people and the elderly is a massive priority, and we are putting in place plans to provide that care.
Coronavirus
Baroness Wheeler Excerpts(4 years, 9 months ago)
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Baroness Wheeler (Lab)
My Lords, I thank the Minister for repeating the Statement and once again pay tribute to the medical, public health and NHS staff who are working so hard to deal with this crisis, both in the UK and internationally. Last week, the Minister underlined the importance of all public health authorities and the NHS working closely together to ensure clear co-ordination. Now that the World Health Organization has declared the virus a public health emergency of international concern, this is more important than ever.
As we have heard, 93 British nationals have now been repatriated to the UK and transferred to a dedicated NHS facility in the Wirral as a precautionary measure. Can the Minister update us on the health and well-being of those people in quarantine? There have also been reports that 15 health workers have been diagnosed in China. We know that the virus mainly spreads through contact with an infected person. Can the Minister outline what protections are in place for health workers, particularly for those in the Wirral and in Newcastle, who are in close contact with those in incubation?
One of the disturbing findings from the early stages of the virus so far has been reports that a number of the people who have sadly died had pre-existing conditions. Does the Minister have any further information on this, including on the particular types of pre-existing conditions and what steps will be taken here to advise and support these very vulnerable people in the UK?
On vaccine development, there have been suggestions that human trials of a vaccine could start soon and be progressed with unprecedented speed. I welcome the reference to this in the Statement. The Times today reports that the head of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations has mentioned that an investigational vaccine from gene sequencing of the pathogen through to clinical testing could happen in 16 weeks, with the earliest stages of clinical trials taking two to four months. We welcome the Government’s £20 million contribution to the coalition’s research to speed up development of a vaccine. Has the Minister any specific further information on how quickly they expect the vaccine to be available and ready to distribute?
The Minister will be aware that many east Asian people living in the UK have reported being the target of racist abuse linked to the outbreak, while Chinese businesses are suffering from bogus claims that Chinese culture is to blame for the coronavirus. Their community leaders have expressed concern about repercussions, as Chinese students, workers and tourists in Europe become a focus of fear and confusion about the virus. What steps are the Government taking to combat racism, stereotyping and making assumptions during the outbreak of the virus?
Finally, we fully support the Government’s public information campaign centred on simple preventive measures to minimise the risk of the virus spreading, such as by washing hands and using tissues when you sneeze. Can the Minister reassure the House that the campaign will be proportionate to the risk currently faced by the general UK population? While we need to alert the public, we all want to avoid causing unnecessary stress or creating a panic.
Baroness Brinton (LD)
I echo the thanks to medics, staff involved in logistics and especially the scientists working so rapidly to sequence the genome of the coronavirus. I support many of the points made by the noble Baroness, Lady Wheeler.
Our concerns are more about some of the very practical arrangements and the fact that the UK seems to be responding 24 or 48 hours behind some other countries. I note the Statement says that
“anyone who has travelled from Wuhan or Hubei province in the last 14 days should immediately contact NHS 111 to inform it of recent travel.”
It also says:
“Anyone who has travelled to the UK from mainland China in the past 14 days and is experiencing a cough, fever or shortness of breath should self-isolate”.
It is interesting that the Philippines, New Zealand, the USA, Singapore and Australia are now barring all foreign nationals from mainland China from entering their countries at all. I know that the World Health Organization is not yet saying that we should follow that, but I noticed that a report at the weekend said that about 340-odd people had come in from Wuhan just before the arrangements were put in place and that the Department of Health was now trying to track these people. Given that we now know that the disease can infect people prior to symptoms emerging, has the Department of Health been able to identify those people who arrived prior to the Government’s arrangements being put in place? Do the Government now have absolutely clear procedures to identify people coming not just from Wuhan and Hubei province but from mainland China so that they can contact them urgently if there are issues? Is everyone travelling in from China getting specific advice about who to contact and what to do?
Finally, what are the numbers of cases in regions outside Hubei? The press is reporting that at least 24 provinces, municipalities and regions in China have now told businesses not to resume work before 10 February at the very earliest. These account for 90% of exports from China. Given that many of our businesses rely on just-in-time manufacturing, I wondered whether the Government were assessing what the impact on our businesses would be if there was a gap in production and exports from China.