Wuhan Coronavirus

Philippa Whitford Excerpts

Tuesday 11th February 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

This is a very important strand of our prepare and mitigate policy to ensure that should things get worse here the NHS is fully prepared. The NHS has the capability now to cope with the very highest level of intensity and isolation with 50 cases, and the capability to expand that to 500 cases without an impact on the wider work of the NHS. If the number of cases gets bigger, we will of course need to take further steps. As my right hon. Friend knows from his time in my shoes, extensive plans are already in place for how they should happen if we reach that eventuality.

[Dr Philippa Whitford (Central Ayrshire) (SNP)]

I, too, welcome the Secretary of State’s statement, and we support the use of powers to maintain isolation, as they are critical for the health and safety of other people in the country. I would, however, also support their being transparent and proportionate. I also welcome that the four chief medical officers across the UK are working together on this issue.

The Government are advising symptomatic returnees from the high-risk countries, but should that not be all people returning from high-risk countries? We simply do not know what the prodromal part of the incubation period is, nor how infectious someone actually is before they have any symptoms at all. I have to say that I was surprised to see the bus drivers, who were driving those on their way to quarantine, sitting in the front seat in shirt sleeves besides someone in full hazmat gear. That seemed to me to send out a rather strange message.

It is also advised that only those from Hubei province should self-isolate even if asymptomatic, but we see from the cases in France that this is spreading very quickly, and we already have 40,000 cases across 28 countries. Therefore, if anyone is flying and going through airports, there is the risk of spread, from simply being on an aeroplane with someone coming from China.

I welcome the funding for vaccine research and the expansion to 12 test centres across the four nations, but what publicity campaign is planned to educate the public upfront not to go to their GP and not to go to accident and emergency, where they will actually spread it to someone else? I understand that the information is there on the Scottish NHS inform system or 111, but if someone is not looking maybe we need to be proactive about the message.

Finally, the UK is no longer part of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. While we are able to take part in the early warning and reporting system during transition, we are no longer part of the decision making or central procurement of vaccines. How much of that system is the UK still able to be part of at the moment during transition and in the long term? Does that perhaps raise up the agenda some of the areas of co-operation that need to be sought with European Union agencies?

[Matt Hancock]

I am grateful for the broad support expressed by the hon. Lady. I am also very grateful for the work of the devolved authorities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and the work of the four CMOs across the UK, who have worked very closely together on what is a public health emergency.

To answer the hon. Lady’s specific questions, all those returning from any of the named countries, which I reiterated in my statement, should, if they are symptomatic, self-isolate. We are taking all measures that are deemed to be effective on the clinical advice. As a clinician herself, I am sure she will recognise the importance of following the epidemiological science wherever possible to make sure we take steps that will be effective and proportionate to the scale of the challenge.

The hon. Lady also asked about the monitoring of those returning on flights. We have enhanced monitoring in place for all those returning, as I said. She also asked about a publicity campaign to get the message across about what people can do—people should wash their hands and follow the advice in the “catch it, bin it, kill it” tissue-use campaign—as well as the important message that the first thing that someone should do is call 111. We have a very significant publicity campaign and I will double-check that that is being co-ordinated with the devolved authorities—I think it is but I will double-check, because that is very important.

Finally, to answer the point about the bus drivers, that decision was again taken on clinical advice to promote the safety of the passengers and balance all the considerations that needed to be taken into account.