Covid-19 Update
Debate between Margaret Ferrier and Matt Hancock(3 years, 7 months ago)
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Matt Hancock
That is an important question. It is a very difficult balance, because often informal childcare is grandparents looking after children and older people are, of course, the most vulnerable to the disease. That is the balance that we need to strike. I always keep an open mind and I am very happy to talk to my hon. Friend about getting the balance exactly right in his area.
Margaret Ferrier (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (SNP)
The Government’s plans for mass testing have been criticised for placing their faith in technologies that are yet to be fully validated scientifically. The Prime Minister himself acknowledged that we are some way off the widespread use of pregnancy-style covid-19 tests. Given the well documented issues with capacity in the UK testing system at the moment, does the Health Secretary accept that we need to focus on ensuring that the existing system works before trying to shoot for the moon?
Matt Hancock
We need to do both. I would just ask the hon. Lady to look at the work the SNP Scottish Government are doing. They are themselves employing and deploying some of the new technologies.
Coronavirus
Debate between Margaret Ferrier and Matt Hancock(3 years, 10 months ago)
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Matt Hancock
Yes, I will do absolutely everything I can. I did not know that my hon. Friend’s wife suffered from cystic fibrosis. I am absolutely determined to make this happen. I worked really hard with the CF community to land Orkambi and I was very proud when we managed to do that. Thank goodness we did that before coronavirus struck, because for many who caught coronavirus it was literally a lifeline. Trikafta has great promise: it promises to be able to treat almost all CF sufferers, as opposed to the approximately half that Orkambi successfully treats. I have been working on that even during the crisis and I really, really hope we can make some progress.
Margaret Ferrier (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (SNP) [V]
On 5 May, the first trial of the NHS covid-19 app started on the Isle of Wight. Since then information on the app’s development has been scarce. It has been beset by delays, with media reports suggesting that the app has some technical problems with accurately estimating distance between phones. That is worrying because the app is intended to expand contact tracing in England. When will the Health Secretary publish the results of the pilot and outline his plans for a wider roll-out of the app?
Matt Hancock
Those reports were wide of the remark and the app does not have a problem with the measurement of distance. But I will come forward with an update very soon.