Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bethell on 10 June (HL3869), whether R is the rate of infection, as referred to in the answer, or the reproductive ratio.
Answered by Lord Bethell
To provide a more comprehensive response to a number of outstanding Written Questions, this has been answered by an information factsheet Science of COVID-19 – note for House of Lords which is attached, due to the size of the data. A copy has also been placed in the Library.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they are making to governments of other countries on the subject of drug hoarding by countries in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The United Kingdom Government has discussed, and engaged on this issue, with other states. We are working closely with our international partners, both bilaterally and via multilateral fora, to deliver a robust global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, to reinforce the resilience of vulnerable countries; ensure access to vaccines and therapeutics; keep international supply chains open; and support the global economy.
Furthermore, as part of our concerted national efforts to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak, we are doing everything we can in this country to ensure patients continue to access safe and effective medicines. We are working closely with the pharmaceutical industry, the National Health Service and others in the supply chain to help ensure patients can access the medicines they need, and precautions are in place to reduce the likelihood of future shortages.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to reschedule any NHS operations postponed in England following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Whilst routine hospital treatments were suspended to provide capacity to treat COVID-19 patients, we are now working closely with the National Health Service and other partners to restart these in a safe way. Guidance has already been issued on this, and approaches are being tailored at local level according to local capacity and local demand, with the most urgent services being restarted first. Guidance also outlines that contracted independent sector hospital and diagnostic capacity should also be used in the restarting of routine elective procedures.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what indirect public health challenges they anticipate after the COVID-19 pandemic; and what steps they are taking to alleviate them.
Answered by Lord Bethell
As set out in the Government’s COVID-19 Recovery Strategy, the Government anticipates a range of indirect impacts on the nation's health, including harm caused by delays to important but non-urgent medical care and public health programmes, the mental health impact of isolation, and the health impacts of COVID-19 related economic instability.
Work is ongoing to plan for the recovery of suspended services. Public Health England has directly published or supported a range of guidance and resources, including how individuals can maintain their mental health and wellbeing during the pandemic. The Government is protecting jobs and the economy to mitigate economic impacts of COVID-19 and reduce their impact on population health.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to launch a campaign to address nicotine addiction to deliver a better outcome for COVID-19 patients.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Public Health England (PHE) has updated online channels such as Smokefree and One You, to make them consistent with the wider COVID-19 advice on quitting smoking. Specific guidance for smokers and vapers has been published online at Smokefree.
PHE supports smokers with a range of free quitting tools, including a Personal Quit Plan, the Smokefree app, a Smokefree Quit Smoking Support Group on Facebook, and a 28-day email and SMS programme.
PHE also provides free printed and digital resources to local authorities, local stop smoking services and National Health Service providers to integrate with national marketing activity.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, following reports that hydroxychloroquine is ineffective in treating COVID-19, what plans they have to review their methods for assessing scientific evidence.
Answered by Lord Bethell
There are no plans to review the methods for assessing scientific evidence following the outcome of the hydroxychloroquine arm of the RECOVERY trial.
Results from trials, even if the treatment proves ineffective, are still very useful in understanding COVID-19 and which other treatments could be more effective. This includes dexamethasone, which was also identified by the RECOVERY trial as having a significant benefit for hospitalised patients with COVID-19 who require oxygen or ventilation.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment have they made of the latest studies about seroprevalence on antibodies and the implications of these results for future immunity from COVID-19.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Control of COVID-19 requires the ability to detect asymptomatic and mild infections, that would not present to healthcare and would otherwise remain undetected through existing surveillance systems. This is important to determine the number of infections within the general population to understand transmission and to allow estimations of infection fatality and infection hospitalisation ratios.
Public Health England (PHE) is undertaking several studies on sero-prevalence in England, using samples from a range of sources, including the PHE seroepidemiology unit, the Royal College of General Practitioners, the ‘What’s the STORY’ study and NHS Blood and Transplant. PHE seroprevalence results are published weekly in the PHE surveillance report. A copy of the latest Weekly Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Surveillance Report: Summary of COVID-19 surveillance systems (published 19 June 2020) is attached.
There is good evidence that most people infected develop an antibody response. Work is continuing in PHE to understand whether the immune response to infection prevents reinfection, and if so how long any protection may last.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the use of Tocilizumab in the treatment of patients with COVID-19.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Chief Medical Officer has advised that treatment given for COVID-19 other than general supportive care, treatment for underlying conditions, and antibiotics for secondary bacterial complications, should currently be as part of a trial, where that is possible.
The Medicines and Healthcare products regulatory Agency (MHRA) is working closely with the Department and others in the global response to COVID-19 and is prioritising review of applications relating to COVID-19 in response to this public health emergency.
There have been three United Kingdom clinical trials authorised that include investigation of Tocilizumab for treatment of COVID-19. The UK clinical trials are currently underway but have not been completed, and no conclusions have been reached on the safety and effectiveness of this medicine to treat COVID-19.
The Commission on Human Medicines has convened a COVID-19 Expert Working Group that meets on a regular basis to review the latest developments and advise the MHRA on its regulatory implications.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the use of Remdesivir in the treatment of patients with COVID-19.
Answered by Lord Bethell
On 26 May 2020, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) issued a positive Scientific Opinion through the Early Access to Medicines Scheme for the use of remdesivir in United Kingdom patients. This informs prescribers on the use of remdesivir across the UK in the treatment of adults and adolescents hospitalised with severe COVID-19 infection who meet additional clinical criteria.
Several clinical trials to evaluate remdesivir and its possible effects on patients with COVID-19 have already been approved by the MHRA and are ongoing in the UK. Currently the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use is considering an application for a conditional marketing authorisation for remdesivir through the European Centralised procedure, and the UK has contributed to the discussions.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to communicate with those groups most likely to break social distancing guidelines.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Government's COVID-19 public information campaign has evolved throughout the course of the pandemic. Campaign activity is informed by a solid evidence base and delivered across a range of channels and formats to maximise the reach of messaging and the adoption of critical public health actions. This includes tailored and upweighted activity for audiences who need additional motivation or support to adhere to social distancing guidelines.
The campaign has included television, digital and social media, press, radio, outdoor posters, PR and partnership activity in all four nations of the United Kingdom. We have also used daily press briefings, SMS texts and a letter from the Prime Minister to all households in the UK.