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Covid-19 Update
13 January 2022
Lead MP
Sajid Javid
Debate Type
Ministerial Statement
Tags
NHSEmployment
Other Contributors: 25
At a Glance
Sajid Javid raised concerns about covid-19 update in the House of Commons. A government minister responded. Other MPs also contributed.
How the Debate Unfolded
MPs spoke in turn to share their views and ask questions. Here's what each person said:
Government Statement
The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Sajid Javid, made a statement on the current state of the UK's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He paid tribute to Professor Sir Jonathan Van-Tam before announcing plans to strengthen the country’s pharmaceutical defences against omicron through vaccination, testing, and antiviral treatments. He highlighted that 79% of eligible adults in England have received a booster shot, including over 90% of those aged 50+. The statement included an update on the NHS's readiness to handle hospitalizations from the virus, emphasising the importance of getting vaccinated and maintaining testing availability. Javid also announced the reduction of self-isolation periods for positive cases to five days if two negative tests are produced.
Wes Streeting
Lab
Ilford North
Question
Why did it take so long to reduce isolation periods? How are NHS services coping with current pressures?
Minister reply
The reduction in isolation period was based on UKHSA data showing that about two-thirds of positive cases are no longer infectious by the end of day five. Regarding NHS service pressure, measures such as creating virtual wards and additional beds in hotels and hospices are being implemented to manage capacity.
Wes Streeting
Lab
Ilford North
Question
The MP pays tribute to Professor Sir Jonathan Van-Tam for his service during the pandemic and questions the timing of the announcement, highlighting workforce shortages in the NHS due to testing issues. He also criticises the Government's delay in reducing isolation periods and blames them for not reading CDC guidelines. Asks if those waits are acceptable standards under the current situation.
Minister reply
The Secretary of State notes that there has been a huge increase in booster vaccinations since Labour’s last announcement at the Dispatch Box, thanking NHS staff and volunteers involved.
Jeremy Hunt
Con
Godalming
Question
Welcomes today's announcement on reducing isolation periods and asks about the timeline for publishing the covid backlog plan. Inquires whether it will address workforce shortages and provide assurance that enough doctors and nurses are being trained.
Minister reply
Thanking his right hon. Friend, he confirms that since September 2020, 20,000 more clinicians have been working throughout the NHS and states that a workforce strategy is being worked on.
Question
Responds to news about Tory MSPs calling for Prime Minister’s resignation following his violation of covid rules. Asks if attacks from members of the Government on critics are conducive to public compliance and questions the Health Secretary's support for the Prime Minister amidst a breach of regulations.
Minister reply
The Prime Minister apologised at the Dispatch Box, stating it is right to wait for Sue Grey’s investigation.
Question
Joins in tribute to Professor Jonathan Van-Tam and welcomes today's announcements. Asks if we are on track to lift plan B restrictions by 26 January, including advice on face masks in classrooms.
Minister reply
Thanking his right hon. Friend for support, the Minister confirms that no restrictions should be longer than necessary and that plan B restrictions will sunset unless decided otherwise.
Meg Hillier
Lab Co-op
Hackney South and Shoreditch
Question
Questions the high cost of authorising private sector providers, requesting details on funding sources and negotiations.
Minister reply
Responds that the NHS negotiated the deal well, and the Government's role is to think beyond immediate health impacts. Emphasises the importance of reducing capacity needs for fewer restrictions.
Question
Asks about care home visit guidelines, noting their detrimental impact on residents' physical and mental health.
Minister reply
Acknowledges difficulty in balancing protection and visits, highlights England's approach as different from others, allowing more visitors and supplying tests.
Grahame Morris
Lab
Easington
Question
Welcomes the statement but draws attention to radiotherapy services and urges for additional resources.
Minister reply
Agrees with the hon. Gentleman's points, mentions ongoing efforts and investment in cancer care.
Question
Asks doctors not on frontline to see patients face-to-face again and raises issue of false positives for travel.
Minister reply
Agrees with the point about seeing patients, mentions review of travel rules based on evidence.
Lilian Greenwood
Lab
Nottingham South
Question
Expresses worry over staff shortages and under-investment in NHS before pandemic.
Minister reply
Acknowledges challenges but highlights investment plans including £30 billion by end of period, with extra £40 billion during crisis.
Question
Welcomes change in self-isolation rules and questions the approach on vaccine as a condition for health staff.
Minister reply
Supports scrutiny but defends policy citing patient safety and majority vote support.
Chi Onwurah
Lab
Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West
Question
Asks about access to free lateral flow tests for small businesses.
Minister reply
Responds that UKHSA is ordering more tests, mentions 300 million in December and four times pre-plan amount in January. Tests can be accessed online or from pharmacies.
Peter Bone
Con
Wellingborough
Question
I am very grateful to the excellent Secretary of State for coming to the Dispatch Box yet again to update the House and particularly for making an announcement first in the House rather than to the media. I wonder whether my right hon. Friend agrees with Lord Frost, who said: “I would like to see the Government ruling out lockdowns for the future, repealing the legislation, ending them…We can’t afford it, it doesn’t work, stop doing Covid theatre—vaccine passports, masks, stuff that doesn’t work”.
Minister reply
I have huge respect for Lord Frost and for my hon. Friend, who has just shared some important points. No one wants to see this country go back into anything resembling a lockdown. While we had to put some restrictions—the so-called plan B—in place over the past few weeks, I hope he will agree that, when we reflect on those restrictions and compare them with other countries in Europe, large or small, we are the freest country in Europe. This is due to our pharmaceutical defences: we are the most boosted large country in Europe, with the most antivirals per head and the most testing.
Diana R. Johnson
Lab
Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham
Question
I want to press the Secretary of State on the morale of our NHS and social care workforce. Between March 2020 and May 2021, 1,561 NHS and social care staff died from covid while working on the frontline. This is part of the reason I am campaigning for an NHS and social care covenant, just as we have for the armed forces and the police. What does he have to say to those key workers who saw colleagues die while the Prime Minister was at the law-breaking works party on 20 May?
Minister reply
The right hon. Lady is right to raise the importance of morale in the NHS. She should know full well, as I do and every Member of this House does, the huge debt this country owes to everyone who has worked in the NHS and the care sector, especially over the past two years. As for an NHS covenant, I have already announced we are going to have one. Regarding her points about the Prime Minister, I refer her to my previous statement.
Alicia Kearns
Con
Rutland and Stamford
Question
Despite my enormous respect for him, I voted against the introduction of covid passports before Christmas. I maintain my view that they are not effective. Will he please commit to dropping domestic certification at the earliest possible opportunity? Will he also make clear today from the Dispatch Box to NHS trusts up and down this country that he will not stand for the pandemic of arbitrary discrimination we are seeing against pregnant women and their partners, and parents who want to be with their children on paediatric wards but are being prevented by trusts in an illogical and unscientific manner from being with them?
Minister reply
Firstly, I agree with every word my hon. Friend says about pregnant women. This message has been reinforced to every NHS trust. On domestic certification, I share her discomfort, and I assure her and the House that we will not keep domestic certification in place a moment longer than absolutely necessary.
Wera Hobhouse
Lib Dem
Bath
Question
May I pay tribute to the services of Professor Sir Jonathan Van-Tam? The Government are still ignoring people who are clinically extremely vulnerable, and their concerns at the lack of guidance and support. Two thirds of housebound people have not received the booster. What are the Government doing to ensure that the vaccines are accessible to everybody, including the housebound?
Minister reply
The hon. Lady talks about ensuring everyone gets access to the booster. Those who are clinically extremely vulnerable should be prioritised if the vaccine works for them. During December, we accelerated the booster programme working mainly with GPs but also others, and those who are housebound or in care homes were a priority.
Question
I thank the Secretary of State for his statement, which brings such positive news that will give confidence to individuals and businesses as they return to a more normal life as we learn to live with covid. My constituency has many small self-employed businesses and they were absolutely terrified in the run-up to Christmas that we were looking at lockdowns and severe restrictions. I thank him and the Prime Minister for the balanced, proportionate approach that the Government have taken in looking at how we move forward and for the steps they took during the Christmas period. May I seek assurances that this will continue?
Minister reply
I thank my hon. Friend for his comments and support. We are the most open and freest country in Europe because of our focus on pharmaceutical defences, including a booster programme with 79% of eligible adults boosted—the highest in Europe—and more antivirals per head than any other country in Europe.
Stephen Doughty
Lab Co-op
Cardiff South and Penarth
Question
I am sure that the Secretary of State will want to join me in paying tribute to the staff at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board for their work on the booster programme. He will know that statistics show that Wales is joint first in Europe—we are actually ahead of the UK average—on delivery of boosters, which can only be a good thing for our population. Will he say a little about what the JCVI is discussing and his view on further boosters for people who are older and more vulnerable and the immunosuppressed, and the use of polyvalent vaccines going forward?
Minister reply
I join the hon. Gentleman in commending Wales for the roll-out of its booster programme. The JCVI recently recommended that at-risk five to 11-year-olds be offered the paediatric vaccine; I have accepted this and it will start this month. They also decided not to offer a fourth dose to over-85s or others at risk due to strong protection provided.
Question
I add to the chorus of approval for the decision to reduce self-isolation to five days. Can my right hon. Friend ensure that the NHS covid-19 app and the Government website are updated as soon as possible to avoid confusion around the reduction to seven-day isolation?
Minister reply
I thank my hon. Friend for his support. I will ensure that the website is updated in the way he suggests as soon as possible.
Question
Recent data suggest that just 4% of teachers say that readings on classroom carbon dioxide monitors are above the safe threshold set by the Department for Education. The Secretary of State will be aware that ventilation is becoming a massive challenge in schools, and in primary schools in particular. What conversations is he having with his colleagues at the Department for Education to ensure that children can continue to learn in classrooms but can do so as safely as possible?
Minister reply
The hon. Lady raises an important issue. We are working with schools up and down the country to protect schoolchildren and allow them to stay in school without lockdowns. My right hon. Friend the Education Secretary has announced a huge new investment in ventilation.
Steven Baker
Con
Taunton Deane
Question
Would it not be better, rather than creating what seem to me to be the conditions for coercion and division, to say to the unvaccinated, “You’ve made your choice to take a greater risk and we are not going to be held back as a society by your choices. You will have to bear the consequences”? Would that not be a more consistent and humane way to deal with them, and to deal with us all, without creating division?
Minister reply
The Secretary of State emphasised that nine out of 10 people in the UK chose to get vaccinated when they could have done so. The minister highlighted that unvaccinated individuals account for a significant portion of patients in ICU wards at King’s College Hospital. He stated that while getting vaccinated needs to be a positive choice, it is important to understand the consequences of their decision for society.
Clive Efford
Lab
Eltham
Question
What about a long-term strategy for staffing in our NHS to deal with current vacancies and those that will come as a result of the 1 April deadline? Where is the long-term plan, and where are we going to get qualified staff from in future?
Minister reply
The Secretary of State stated that even before Parliament voted on new vaccination rules for health and care settings, the NHS had started planning. The Department is working with each trust to convince those who have not yet received a first dose of the vaccine to do so through meetings with clinicians.
Tobias Ellwood
Con
Bournemouth East
Question
The Secretary of State will be aware from his visits that the atmosphere in the temporary hubs is extremely professional but can also be quite quiet and sombre. Will he look at whether the licensing conditions for radio can be lifted? Maybe he could speak to the BBC, Classic FM or Virgin Radio—Chris Evans might even be listening to our debate today. I hope the Secretary of State agrees that radio would help to lift spirits as we go about this important national effort.
Minister reply
The Minister thanked Tobias Ellwood for his support and suggested contacting organisations like the BBC, Classic FM, or Virgin Radio to see whether they would be willing to assist in lifting spirits at vaccination hubs.
Matt Western
Lab
Warwick and Leamington
Question
The Secretary of State is aware of the shortage of testing kits. He mentioned in his statement that the 120 million have now increased to 300 million. Can the Secretary of State confirm—guarantee, perhaps—that in the coming weeks there will be no issue with the supply of testing kits to our higher education sector?
Minister reply
The Minister confirmed that for January, at least 400 million lateral flow tests are planned, which is four times as many as initially anticipated. The university sector and the broader education sector have a separate supply line, closely managed by his Department in conjunction with the Department for Education.
Shadow Comment
Wes Streeting
Shadow Comment
The shadow Secretary of State, Wes Streeting, acknowledged JVT’s service and criticised the government's delay in implementing changes similar to those made by the Biden Administration. He highlighted issues with workforce shortages impacting NHS services and expressed concerns over normalizing longer waits for patients due to pandemic pressures. Streeting questioned whether these long wait times were acceptable and stressed the need for a clear strategy addressing staff shortages, elective care recovery, and trust rebuilding in light of recent controversies.
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