Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on (1) the prevalence of antibiotic resistant bacteria in those patients who contract bacterial pneumonia, and (2) the spread of such bacteria in hospitals.

Public Health England (PHE) regularly reports on healthcare-associated infections and resistance to key antibiotics, which can be viewed online on the antimicrobial resistance Fingertips webpage. PHE will track the impact of COVID-19 on these infections using these established surveillance data systems.

Analysis looking at bacterial species which commonly cause pneumonia following flu showed a reduction in overall bacterial reports with antibiotic resistance remaining relatively stable, as the COVID-19 incident developed. PHE will continue to monitor the situation closely.