Covid-19: Response

Baroness Verma Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd June 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bethell]

If I was not clear, I hope the noble Baroness will forgive me. The test is open to anyone in the population. It is not restricted to key workers or those who are over five, as it once was. However, the clinical advice is that you should seek a test only if you show symptoms, partly because the test will not necessarily work if you do not have symptoms. That remains the case.

With regard to expanding the list of symptoms, we changed the symptoms about two weeks ago. We have done a huge amount of work to understand the best way of recommending symptoms. This is an amazingly complicated area. A lay person like me would think it was not too difficult to define symptoms for an important disease, but actually it is an extremely contested area. We have broadened it, we keep it under review, and if what we have done is not working well enough, we will update it again.

[Baroness Verma (Con)]

Does my noble friend not agree that where there are densely populated communities and a greater risk of spreading the coronavirus, testing should take place through booked appointments with their regular GP surgeries? Many of those communities do not know how to access online appointments and come from larger families. They could then also be asked about how they were following the guidelines set down by the Government. My worry is that many communities are not being communicated to and are falling through the gaps. I urge the Minister to take that on board.

[Lord Bethell]

I agree with my noble friend. It is a grave concern that key communities, particularly those to which she alludes, are not hearing the message and do not have the available resources for booking tests. We are working hard on that. In particular, we are working with GPs to ensure that they have the ability to book tests. They can of course do so on the portal like anyone else, but we are working to create a special prioritised facility for GPs to be able to book tests for their patients. I completely agree with my noble friend’s assessment that in many communities GPs play a trusted role. A practical issue is that many GP surgeries are currently closed, but I welcome the fact that many are now reopening.