Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the covid-19 outbreak, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of requiring people who arrive in the UK to self isolate for 14 days; and if he will make a statement.

On 12 March 2020 the Prime Minister announced that the COVID-19 response was moving from the contain to delay phase. This phase has been initiated as there is now community transmission of the virus in the United Kingdom, i.e. transmission not directly related to travel; this has made interventions in ports of less relative importance. With the shift to the delay phase and commensurate policy changes the Public Health England port health approach has changed to a ‘warn and inform focus’.