Covid-19 Response

Ben Spencer Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

Ensuring that we get these statistics accurate is incredibly important. We are working on that with the UK Statistics Authority. It is a big piece of the work to ensure that we get the publications right.

[Dr Ben Spencer (Runnymede and Weybridge) (Con)]

I welcome my right hon. Friend’s announcement about his focus on the vital research into the risk factors of serious illness from covid, especially the impacts of age, sex and ethnicity. I look forward to future research that takes into account comorbidities, which are a crucial part of the puzzle. Does my right hon. Friend agree that we are now reaping the benefits of long-term investment in research in the NHS so that we can do these studies, but in going forward and understanding better the impact of comorbidities, can he give me an idea of when that may report back so that we can make policy decisions based on it?

[Matt Hancock]

This is clearly urgent work to disentangle the different factors that cause the disparities evident in the data in the report published today. The Equalities Minister will be leading that work, working with Public Health England and others, to get to the bottom of that as quickly as possible.