Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the scientific basis is for the Government's decision to close betting shops under the very high local covid-19 alert level restrictions.

While we have no specific evidence relating to betting shops, we know that the virus spreads readily in any indoor environment where members of different households and/or support bubbles spend time together, so the transmission risk in indoor settings, such as bookmakers, remains high. The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies provided advice to the Department and considered the risks of transmission through different routes and environments in a paper which is available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/933225/S0824_SARS-CoV-2_Transmission_routes_and_environments.pdf