Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has requested that (a) Public Health England, (b) county councils and (c) other public sector organisations (i) collect and (ii) publish data on residents in care homes with (A) covid-19 symptoms and (B) confirmed positive tests for covid-19.

Since the start of the pandemic, Public Health England (PHE) estimated that over 192,000 residents in care homes have been tested for COVID-19. Data on the number of residents in care homes with COVID-19 symptoms and confirmed tests for COVID-19 is not currently available or published in the format requested. NHS England is keeping what data it publishes under regular review.

The weekly number and percentage of care homes reporting a suspected or confirmed outbreak of COVID-19 to PHE by local authorities, regions and centres is published at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/covid-19-number-of-outbreaks-in-care-homes-management-information