,
Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, responding to the Health
Secretary’s Covid-19 statement in the Commons, said:
“After last week’s euphoria we are brought back down to earth
with a thud. This is a virus that, without adequate restrictions
in place, spreads with ferocity. Case rates are increasing again,
hospital admissions are climbing again. R is edging up again.
“Last week the England wide rate was 159 per 100,000. Now its 188
per 100,000. That’s a 20 per cent increase. Across London cases
have increased 30 per cent in a week, the East of England 36 per
cent.
“None of us are surprised at the action he is taking today.
Indeed he was warned that Tier 2 wouldn’t be enough to contain
the spread of this virus. Now it looks like in some areas, such
as Kent, Tier 3 isn’t enough to contain the spread either.
“Elsewhere in the country Tier 3 areas appears to be broadly flat
lining, with some like North West trending down. But overall the
increasing areas are rising faster than the decreasing areas are
falling.
“As things stand, we are heading into the Christmas easing with
diminishing headroom. The buffer zone these tiers were supposed
to provide is getting much thinner.
“So what is his plan to keep people safe through Christmas and to
avoid huge pressures in the NHS in January? What is his plan to
support an exhausted, understaffed NHS through January to deliver
the care patients will need? And is he confident that our NHS
won’t be so overwhelmed in January that it impacts the
vaccination programme?
“Our response to Covid-19 could have been stronger had Serco’s
contact tracing not left a gaping hole in our defences. In
boroughs like Islington only 65 per cent of contacts were traced
by the national system. In Tower Hamlets only 60 per cent; In
Barking 61 per cent.
“Test and Trace is costing £22 billion – more than the policing
and fire service combined – and yet according to the NAO, up to
September only £785 million was allocated to local council public
health teams.
“Serco have subcontracted to 21 other firms offering little
training to staff, with some in call centres alongside others
making sales calls for gambling websites. It’s time to scrap
Serco, and put all public health teams in the lead doing the
retrospective cluster busting contact tracing we need.
“He has promised more testing for Tier 3 areas, what about Tier 2
areas? On Lateral Flow Tests some care home providers refused to
use them due to concerns about their accuracy, is he satisfied
these tests are accurate enough for this purpose and are safe?
And if they can’t be used for care homes how quickly can care
home residents’ relatives makes use of PCR tests?
“He often praises Liverpool. But isn’t the biggest lesson to draw
from Liverpool that people still struggle to isolate if they
haven’t got the financial means to do so?
“The eligibility criteria for the £500 payment is too tightly
drawn. People need decent sick pay. People in some circumstances
need alternative accommodation. People need help with shopping
and medicines. Surely some of the £22 billion spent on Test and
Trace could be reallocated to offer people isolation support?
“On the mutation in the virus identified, our constituents will
be naturally concerned – will he keep the house updated on this?
“Finally, today I spoke to Fred Banning. Fred is just 38. He has
two children under 10. His cancer is terminal. He asks that those
with terminal illness and given quicker access to the vaccine, so
he can - in his words to me - “make the most of the time he has
left with his family’. I understand these are clinical decisions,
but could he, through his offices, look into access to the
vaccine for those with terminal illness, and see what can be done
for people like Fred and many others in this situation?”
