Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish the scientific evidence on the lifting of lockdown restrictions due to the covid-19 outbreak for people who are shielding.

The scientific evidence supporting the United Kingdom Government response to COVID-19 gets published online on GOV.UK and is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/coronavirus-covid-19-scientific-evidence-supporting-the-uk-government-response

As our understanding of the virus increases, the Government continues to review the emerging evidence. We will continue to listen to our medical advisers on the level of clinical risk the virus presents to different groups of people at different points in time.

At each review point for the social distancing measures, we will also review the risks for the clinically extremely vulnerable and assess whether the shielding period needs to be extended or whether it is possible for the shielding guidance to be eased further. We will base our assessment on clinical advice from our medical experts, and the best data available about the prevalence of COVID-19 in the community.