Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their latest estimate of the positive effect of social distancing on decreasing the spread of COVID-19; and what estimate they have made of the possible negative effects as restrictions are gradually lifted.

On 26 March 2020 the Government introduced a series of social distancing measures based on scientific advice. These are strict measures, but they are measures that we must take in order to protect the National Health Service, slow the spread of the virus so the NHS would not be overwhelmed, and save lives. Helped by these measures, we have started to reduce the spread of the disease and ensured that the NHS was not overwhelmed.

On 16 April, the First Secretary of State (Rt. Hon. Dominic Raab MP) outlined, in line with scientific advice, five criteria that would be considered as part of assessing the necessity of the measures and whether they could be eased. These consider NHS capacity, death rates, transmission rates, availability of personal protective equipment, and avoidance of a second peak of the virus that overwhelms the NHS.

The Government will continue to review the measures, assessing them to ensure that they continue to be necessary and proportionate based on available scientific evidence.