Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that blood (a) tests and (b) donations remain safe from the transmission of covid-19.

COVID-19 is a respiratory virus and there is no published evidence that this virus can transmit through blood transfusion. However, all donors are reminded about symptoms and asked to self-defer if they have any COVID-19 symptoms or are contacts of a case. Donors are also reminded to contact NHS Blood and Transplant if they become unwell post-donation.

In addition, NHS Blood and Transplant has asked blood donors to wear face coverings and donation staff are wearing personal protective equipment at donation sessions. NHS England and NHS Improvement have also published guidance to health care workers, including to those administering blood tests, to wear reusable non-invasive equipment, which must be decontaminated between each patient, after blood and body fluid contamination and at regular intervals as part of routine equipment cleaning.