Oral Answers to Questions

Heather Wheeler Excerpts

Tuesday 12th January 2021 Commons Chamber

[Alexander Stafford (Rother Valley) (Con)]

What progress his Department has made on rolling out community testing for covid-19.

[Mrs Heather Wheeler (South Derbyshire) (Con)]

What progress his Department has made on rolling out community testing for covid-19.

[Karl MᶜCartney (Lincoln) (Con)]

What progress his Department has made on rolling out community testing for covid-19.

--- Later in debate ---

[Helen Whately]

It is great to hear about the work of the Rotherham CCG and my hon. Friend’s primary care network, which are clearly on the front foot in this vital work of vaccinating people who are at high risk in his community. As he may have heard from the Secretary of State earlier, we are making sure that everybody is able to access community testing as they need it and has a vaccination centre within reach.

[Mrs Wheeler [V]]

Will the Minister join me in welcoming the opening of community testing centres around Swadlincote in recent weeks, paving the way for greater testing capability and coverage right across Derbyshire? Will she also confirm that the rapid lateral flow tests being used are accurate and reliable and are an important tool in tackling asymptomatic transmission of the covid virus?

[Helen Whately]

I join my hon. Friend in welcoming the opening of community testing centres in Swadlincote. Asymptomatic testing enables us to pick up cases in high prevalence areas that otherwise would go undetected, which means that we can break chains of transmission. There has been extensive clinical evaluation from Public Health England and Oxford University, which shows that lateral flow tests are appropriate for that use. They identify over two thirds of all people who have covid-19 but often do not have symptoms and, importantly, they catch the vast majority with a high viral load.