Covid-19

Robin Millar Excerpts
Monday 16th March 2020

(4 years, 9 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Matt Hancock Portrait Matt Hancock
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I will look into the second point. On the first point, those conversations are happening.

Robin Millar Portrait Robin Millar (Aberconwy) (Con)
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I congratulate my right hon. Friend for his openness and for the quality of the information he is giving us. Will he please offer some guidance to the large number of religious communities—churches, mosques, gurdwaras—on what actually constitutes a large gathering of people?

Matt Hancock Portrait Matt Hancock
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We address that in the advice, and this is a very important point. We have taken advice on how to respond to the crisis, including from our ethics committee, which includes representatives of the major religious faiths. It is true that we include religious groups in our advice about social contact. We have seen from elsewhere in the world how sometimes it is through religious gatherings that the virus can spread so, with the deepest regret and the heaviest of heart, we include faith groups and gatherings of faith within the advice.