Oral Answers to Questions

Sharon Hodgson Excerpts

Tuesday 23rd June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Dr James Davies (Vale of Clwyd) (Con)]

What progress his Department has made on the establishment of a test and trace service for covid-19.

[Mrs Sharon Hodgson (Washington and Sunderland West) (Lab)]

What his timetable is for the operation of the NHS test and trace service nationwide.

[The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Matt Hancock)]

NHS Test and Trace was introduced on 28 May, working with local authorities to prevent and contain the spread of covid-19. I am encouraged by the early results, which show that in the first two weeks of operation 87,000 people were contacted by NHS Test and Trace and agreed to self-isolate.

--- Later in debate ---

[Matt Hancock]

That is an incredibly important question. Of course, I would add Northern Ireland to that group. We have regular meetings. I have a weekly call with my counterparts in the devolved Governments. Of course, the devolved Governments have a huge role to play in this. I will give whatever support I can to help the Welsh Government to make sure that they can deliver contact tracing, and indeed the wider testing programme, as well as possible.

[Mrs Hodgson [V]]

Will the Minister urgently set out a plan to support local authorities to implement local lockdowns if needed, along with providing them with all the resources they need to implement this?

[Matt Hancock]

Yes.