Covid-19 Update Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department of Health and Social Care
Kate Osborne
Main Page: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)Department Debates - View all Kate Osborne's debates with the Department of Health and Social Care
Covid-19 Update
Kate Osborne Excerpts(4 years, 1 month ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Matt Hancock
I would be very happy to take up my hon. Friend’s suggestion about the volunteers. I commend to him the social care winter plan, which sets out how we will balance the very difficult issues that he mentions.
Kate Osborne (Jarrow) (Lab)
In my constituency, schools are already closing due to confirmed cases of coronavirus. What conversations has the Secretary of State had on routine testing in schools? Will he publish the science behind the decision not to introduce routine testing for teachers and tell us why schools have been issued with only 10 testing kits each?
Matt Hancock
We have a testing prioritisation board which takes into account the order of priorities within testing. Of course, as testing expands it means we will be able to use it for more things, including in schools. I look forward to being able to make that progress just as soon as we make the expansion even bigger.