Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his Department's policies of research that links dirty air and increased infections of covid-19; and what additional steps he is taking to keep air pollution levels low.

The Government is taking a proactive approach to understand the possible links between air quality and COVID-19. That is why, with our Air Quality Expert Group (AQEG), we ran a rapid Call for Evidence to ensure we can more fully understand the impact that COVID-19 is having on air pollutant emissions, concentrations and human exposure. This report was published on 1 July. On the specific issue of COVID-19 and the link to air pollution, it is a particularly challenging and uncertain area. We note that there is emerging evidence suggesting an association, but many of the emerging papers are, as yet, generally not peer-reviewed and are of variable quality. Currently, there is no clear evidence to suggest that air pollution has a direct link to the spread or severity of COVID-19 in the United Kingdom.

Improving air quality remains a top priority for the Government and, especially during these unprecedented times, we will continue to take robust and comprehensive action to improve air quality in the UK and minimise public health impacts.