Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of requesting that cruise line companies make cruise ships available for use as make-shift hospitals during the covid-19 outbreak.

A number of options continue to be reviewed for accommodating patients with COVID-19. Whilst cruise ships may provide one option for supporting patient beds, the configuration of cruise ship bedrooms make the treatment of patients with COVID-19 potentially more difficult with regard to staffing.