Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the correlation between the level of hospital admissions and positive tests for covid-19; and if he will make a statement.

Data on hospital admissions and positive tests are reviewed by Public Health England and published on a weekly basis through the weekly surveillance report, which can be found at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-covid-19-surveillance-reports

COVID-19 hospital admission and positive tests contribute to understanding of COVID-19 activity in the population and the targeting of interventions. Hospitalisations have remained relatively stable in recent weeks. However, there is typically a lag between an increase in disease activity and increases in hospitalisations. Following recent increases in case numbers, increases in hospitalisations can be seen in some parts of the country, such as the North West, in older adults.