Covid-19: Response

Baroness Falkner of Margravine Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd June 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bethell]

I completely agree with the noble Lord. The Prime Minister said that it was down to the negotiating table to sort out this important matter. I will leave it to the negotiators.

[Baroness Falkner of Margravine (Non-Afl)]

I understand that we have to wait for the data to come through that addresses what underlying health conditions and comorbidities might impact on BME critical care and death rates from Covid, but, to reassure the community while we are waiting for further information, I wonder whether the Minister’s publicity campaign could be very directly targeted at those vulnerable groups to make it very clear that they should avail themselves of the testing capacity available—indeed, that they might even get priority—so that they have some reassurance that, should they have any of the symptoms, they will be seen to as soon as possible?

[Lord Bethell]

The noble Baroness makes a powerful point. The frustrating truth is that many in the groups and communities of which she speaks take the fewest number of tests. Getting through to these groups is extremely important, so they can seek the clinical help they need if they are suffering from Covid. We have worked extremely hard with our marketing department to ensure that hard-to-reach communities get the marketing messages that will be effective. The noble Baroness provides a really reasonable reminder and I will redouble my efforts to ensure that those marketing messages are focused on the right communities.