Baroness Prashar
Main Page: Baroness Prashar (Crossbench - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Baroness Prashar's debates with the Department of Health and Social Care
(4 years, 3 months ago)
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Baroness Prashar (CB) [V]
My Lords, why do we not have testing at airports yet? Leading figures in the aviation industry are expressing frustration and it is having a detrimental impact on the industry. Other countries have managed to introduce testing at airports; why are we lagging behind?
Lord Bethell (Con)
My Lords, I completely hear the frustrations of the airport and airlines industries about testing, but I cannot hide from them the simple epidemiological facts. If someone arrives at an airport, they may not test positive if they are harbouring the infection deep inside themselves. It may take days—up to 14 days—for that infection to manifest. I wish it were different; I wish we could set our airports free. Until we find a system that can handle that complexity, I am afraid that we will have to live with the system we have.