Covid-19 Update

Feryal Clark Excerpts

Wednesday 30th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

My right hon. Friend is absolutely spot on. The issue of long covid is very serious, and we have put more support into the NHS and into research to try to understand long covid better. I know about it very much myself, and I understand the impacts that it can have, which can be debilitating on people’s lives. I am delighted that there is a long covid centre at Stoke Mandeville. It is such an excellent hospital, and I am not surprised that it is doing all the cutting-edge work that is needed, but the single most important thing we can do to support those who have long covid is to understand better the causes and therefore understand what we can do to help people get their lives back to normal.

[Feryal Clark (Enfield North) (Lab) [V]]

The Secretary of State has said in many statements over the past 10 months that we have the virus under control. Only two weeks ago, he said that we cannot risk letting cases rise again, yet that is exactly what is happening under his watch. Yesterday, the UK reported a further 53,135 cases of coronavirus, which is the highest daily total since the pandemic began. With many hospitals in London and the south-east at breaking point, it is clear that the Government have lost control of the virus. With schools set to go back in a week’s time, what public health strategy does he have in place to keep our children, their families and teachers safe?