Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that British nationals in foreign countries are tested for covid-19.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has lobbied foreign governments to provide COVID-19 tests and treatment without charge to British nationals currently based on their territory, as the UK is doing for foreign nationals here. Although access to the NHS is usually based on residence in the UK, in January the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) decided that overseas visitors would not be charged for testing for COVID-19 (even if the test is negative) nor for treatment for COVID-19 in the UK. We advise British nationals overseas to follow the advice of the local health and government authorities, and this includes following their testing regime.