Coronavirus: Health Secretary Matt Hancock answers your COVID-19 questions
Everything the health secretary had to say in response to questions from Sky News viewers and readers.
Wednesday 6 May 2020 15:33, UK
Health Secretary Matt Hancock has answered questions from Sky News viewers and readers in a Q&A hosted by Kay Burley.
Here are his full responses to your coronavirus questions.
Doug McLaren: Has Prof Neil Ferguson been fined by the police for breaking lockdown rules? And if not, why not?
Hancock: "I don't know. The first I heard about this was when I read it in the newspapers... But clearly the social distancing rules are there for everyone - they're incredibly important and they're deadly serious.
"And the reason is because they're the means by which we've been able to get control of this virus."
Burley: Should he be prosecuted?
"You could imagine what my views are... It's a matter for the police, as a government minister I'm not allowed to get involved in the operational decisions of police matters but I think the social distancing rules are very important and people should follow them."
Burley: You said you read it in the papers, what did you think when you read it? Did you bang your head on the desk?
"It's extraordinary - I don't understand it.
"I am [speechless] - that doesn't often happen to me Kay, but I am.
"Professor Ferguson is a very eminent and impressive scientist and the science he has done has been an important part of what we've listened to and I think he took the right decision to resign."
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Burley: One of his defences was that he'd already had COVID-19, so as a result it was okay not to social distance?
"I asked exactly the same question of England's chief medical officer after I'd had coronavirus, and normally there is immunity and your much lower risk from the coronavirus if you've had it recently but we don't know that for sure.
"We all have to abide by social distancing.
"We do have a scientific survey in the field, right now, to find out if people who've definitely had it because they've tested positive and have the antibodies do they get it again.
"And if they don't then we'll know scientifically that people who've had it and have been tested to have the antibodies that they can go about in a much more low risk way.
"If that science comes through, as we do expect it to, then we will be able to say people are lower risk if they've had that positive antibody test, but we don't know that yet and that's why everyone has to follow the social distancing rules."
Linda Hurst: I'm in the shielding category. Will I have to wait for a vaccine before I hug my children and grandchildren again?
Hancock: "Those who are shielded, are those who have specifically received a letter from the NHS saying they are clinically extremely vulnerable to the disease.
"This is not the rule for all over 70s, who are in a different category, so the answer I'm going to give relates to the shielded who have specifically received a letter from the NHS.
"We asked those who are being shielding to avoid as much human contact as possible, for 12 weeks, we may have to extend those 12 weeks but we hope not to.
"We may well be able to release some of those measures before a vaccine is available, if we can get the level of new cases right down.
"So in some countries they've managed to now get the number of new cases right down and, if we get there, if we succeed in doing that, then we will be able to take clinical advice on whether it's safe for those who are shielded to hug their grandchildren.
"I understand the emotional impact this is having and there are many people who haven't left their homes for six weeks or so, that is a long time especially if you don't have a garden, so that's right at the front of my mind.
"Making sure we get the rules around those who are shielded right is really important and we will take into account not just the impact of coronavirus but the wider impact on people's physical and mental health from being stuck at home for such a long time."
Brian McCarvel: What if a vaccine cannot be found for COVID-19?
Hancock: "If a vaccine can't be found then we have to learn to find a way to live with this virus - which means getting the numbers right down and then holding them down through, for instance, mass scale testing and chasing the virus through a combination of technology and human virus tracers.
"And of course we're working on treatments, that is to say drugs that can make sure if you do get ill with coronavirus it isn't life-threatening in the way it is now.
"It is not a guarantee that we will find a vaccine, we're doing everything we possibly can, we're putting as many resources as we can into the scientists who are leading this.
"We've got three potential vaccines, two of which are world leaders, but we're working with countries around the world so that whoever makes the first successful vaccine we'll be able to get it."
Café owner Ryan Enever asks about the two-metre rule, which he says will never work in his premises because it is too small.
Hancock: "The business secretary is working on the rules for safe working so that, when we get the rate of new infections down we can work on how people can get people back to work as safely as possible.
"We're going to say more about that very shortly.
"The two-metre rule is based on the best scientific advice and the problem is the more you reduce it the more easily the virus spreads, and it isn't linear so if you half it you don't just double the likelihood of the virus spreading you increase it exponentially.
"So we're very careful to follow the clinical advice on the two-metre rule, but there's also very strong evidence that outdoors the spread is much, much lower so there may be workarounds that some businesses, for instance cafes especially over the summer, might be able to put into place."
Joe: I'm a young cancer patient in London and all of my appointments have been cancelled. Why is the Excel centre in east London not being used as the epicentre of COVID-19 freeing up hospital space and making it safe for other serious illness treatment?
Hancock: "We're taking this principle, which is a very sensible principle, and putting it into place within existing hospitals, within the mainstream hospitals.
"The reason for that is because many people with coronavirus also have other conditions, and the Excel centre is designed for people who only have coronavirus and don't have other underlying health conditions.
"Within hospitals we are separating them into COVID and non-COVID areas and that means that if people have more seriously complications they're actually safer in a full blown hospital that has the full blown intensive care capabilities.
"It's safer if you've got coronavirus to be treated in a mainstream hospital."
Burley: Cancer patients are still going to have to wait longer than normal aren't they?
Hancock: We are restarting cancer treatment but there is a challenge with some cancer treatments when it takes your immune system right down to zero that that is not a wise thing to do when there is an epidemic going on.
"That's irrespective of what's available in the NHS, but a lot of cancer treatment has carried on through the crisis because it's time critical and those parts that we stopped for less time critical cancers, no cancer is not time critical, we're now beginning to restart and doing that in a safe way.
"The critical message for viewers is that if you are advised by your clinician to go to a hospital appointment you should go because they will have taken into account the risk from COVID-19 as well."
Dr Uchenna Okoye: Patients are in pain and primary dental care is in danger of collapse - what are you going to do about it?
Hancock: "Dentistry is another really important area we want to get started again as soon as it is safe to do so.
"There have been arrangements put in place for emergency dental care, so for patients who have got something urgent, there are almost 200 centres around England for emergency dental care.
"But we have advised people not to take up routine dental check-ups, in fact I've had to delay mine, and that is obviously an important precaution because by its nature your dentist is close to you when they're looking at your teeth.
"I'm working with the British Dental Association, I understand the impact because many people pay privately to go to the dentist and that of course is having a business impact on dentists alongside the lack of NHS work because we're not recommending people go for routine check-ups.
"So it is really important we support our dentists through this period."
Burley: When do you think the practices will be open again?
Hancock: "As part of the restart of the NHS that's something we're working on, hopefully within weeks or months."
Carla Tombs: Can there be some guidance on when cancelled operations due to COVID-19 would be rebooked? As a woman of 34 with serve fertility issues it is absolutely soul-destroying knowing each day I am waiting my chances of becoming a mother are just slipping by
Hancock: "It is heartbreaking and I've seen the wonders of IVF within my own family, not me personally but close family, so I know how important it is for you Carla and other people in your circumstances.
"I'm really pleased we have been able to restart fertility treatment, of course it was paused for over a month and there will be a backlog to get through - but we've been able to get that restart going and I very much hope Carla, that you get your appointment sooner rather than later."
John Allan: Did you sacrifice elderly people in care homes so you could ensure the NHS wasn't overwhelmed?
Hancock: "We didn't do this. From the start, we've worked very hard to protect people in care homes.
"Until this crisis there hasn't been as much discussion in the public debate about the support that is given to people in care homes, and I'm really glad that actually one of the things that has happened as we've gone through this crisis is that there has been much more discussion of that.
"We put in place the first guidance to care homes in February, and when large number of people left hospital to make space for people with COVID-19 that was before there were many cases of coronavirus and then since then we've put in place the rules that are in place, in England at least, for testing everybody as they leave hospital to go into care homes."
Burley: Should you have done that to start with?
"The problem was that the testing didn't exist in this country and we've had to build that throughout the crisis.
"I feel like we put a lot of effort and resources into supporting care homes from the start, maybe we should have explained that more clearly.
"The challenge with care homes in this crisis is that many of the most vulnerable people to coronavirus, because it hits older people much harder, are in care homes, so by their nature they are some of the most vulnerable areas.
"There will be a time for going over the history of this, but now the most important thing is that we protect people in care homes as much as possible including using the new testing to make sure we protect people in care homes.
"It would have been wonderful if we'd gone into the crisis with a global scale diagnostics industry, in the way Germany did, but we went in more like countries like France who've had to build testing capability almost from scratch.
"Now we're able to have those tests, those asymptomatic tests, not be a lack of effort from the people on my team who've been absolutely amazing on this but because we just didn't have that capacity as a country."
James: When will I be allowed to go back to college?
Hancock: We didn't want to shut schools and colleges but we had to because although children don't suffer the consequences of COVID-19 as much as adults... they still spread it.
"That means that colleges and schools are a place where lots of people from different households come and mix so it is a real spreader environment.
"Colleges and schools were perfectly safe for children but they could help spread the disease.
"We're considering now how we can get that restarted in a safe way when it is right to do so.
"It's too soon."
"I have three children who are currently home schooling and I'm not able to help with that very much but my wife is - she has to put a huge amount of effort into it as well.
"We know it is imperfect, but at least thanks to technology it's better than it might have been in the past.
"I totally understand the frustration of those who want to get back to school, in fact I admire children who want to go back to school because they want their social lives as well.
Burley: It won't be until September will it?
"It's just so important for all the reasons we're discussing that we get the rate of new transmissions down and if there is something we can do before then then we will - but I can't make any promises".
"It's tempting to give concrete answers and I'm not dodging the question, I'm answering really directly.
"We don't know because we've got to see the progress of the disease and we don't know how people are going to behave in terms of the lockdown measures.
"I understand the frustration of people over will it be June, will it be September, what age groups will it be because of course other countries have taken different decisions for different age groups.
"I'm tempted to prejudge those decisions but we don't yet have the data but we are coming to a position where relatively soon we might be able to say so."
Burley: In the next two weeks?
"I hope so."
John Fletcher: Can it really be just a coincidence that the virus originated in a city where there are two laboratories researching coronavirus?
Hancock: "We have looked into this and we don't have any evidence that this is a manmade coronavirus.
"I understand what John is getting at, but we haven't seen any evidence of that link."
Burley: Have the Americans shared any evidence with us at all? Because we heard from the US president and he said that there is a link?
"The president phrased his comments very carefully. We haven't seen any evidence of a link, so there's nothing I've seen that confirms the allegation that John is referring to that I know is something people are talking about.
"The evidence appears to be that at some point the disease jumped from an animal to a human, and trying to make sure that doesn't happen again that is in the global interest, it's not just a matter for one country."
Stewart Deeks: Donald Trump rated his performance during the pandemic as 10/10. How would you rate your own performance?
Hancock: I'd say I'm constantly trying to learn and understand what's gone well and what can be improved, and there are some things we've had to change because they didn't work first time around.
"I think I'd give you a more humble response than the president - I'm not going to put a figure on it, obviously.
"I'll give you one example of something we learnt and changed... we put in place guidance around funerals and that guidance was interpreted in a different way to what we expected and then I saw that some funerals were taking place with no loved ones nearby and that was terrible, so we changed the guidance.
"We should have put the updated guidance in in the first place and said to everyone it is okay to have a small number of members of your family at a funeral - of course you can socially distance at a funeral as long as there aren't too many people there."
Burley: What other mistakes have you made?
"I don't know - there'll be a time for reviews."
Burley: Does the burden of responsibility weigh you down?
"I don't feel that, because I feel highly motivated to get it right.
"That includes listening to the accusations you get and the criticism and saying 'Well where have they got a point and what can we learn from it?'.
"I get up in the morning and think 'What can I do today to try to get this country the best possible response?' and then I work on that all day and then I go to bed and I get up and do the same.
"Occasionally I get a few hours off - this weekend I was able to play frisbee in the park with the kids and so take some exercise.
"So I do try to take a couple of hours off at the weekend, so you've just got to do everything you can do to get the response right."
Burley: Are you fully better now?
"Yes. Fortunately it was only mild, other people have had it much worse than me.
Burley: What was it like?
"For about 48 hours it was really tough, I had a really sore throat and I couldn't eat or drink and I had the aching in my muscles that lots of people talk about.
"Fortunately it didn't seem to get on to my lungs so breathing wasn't particularly a problem and I was tired.
"It was quite short and then fortunately I bounced out of it relatively fast."
Burley: Where you surprised at how badly affected the prime minister was?
"Yeah, because both of us got it at around the same time... I talked to him all the way through it and in the first few days we seemed to be very much on a par and then I just got better and he didn't.
"That was strange... It does seem to hit people sometimes a second time because then it came and suddenly he went downhill and it was quite sudden how he went downhill the second time.
"We've all seen the videos in the public domain and him coming out to Clap for Carers on Thursday night, looking like a ghost, and it hit him very hard."
Burley: We've got the highest number of deaths in Europe, how can that be? Were we not prepared?
"We've got to be very cautious with this data, we've got to be very careful how we describe it.
"We're one of the biggest countries in Europe and that matters, so there are smaller countries that naturally will have smaller number of deaths.
"Spain and Italy don't include deaths outside hospitals in their figures, we didn't used to as it is harder to count deaths in the community and care homes and we now do so you'll have seen early last week there was a rise in the number of published deaths here and that's because we include all deaths from coronavirus not just those in hospital.
"So Spain and Italy are smaller countries and they don't include all deaths in their figures so you've got to be very careful about essentially comparing like with like.
"If you speak to the statisticians they say that it's only afterwards and looking back on the total number of people who have died during the peak compared to the normal number... that you can make those comparisons."
David Lipscombe: What if the trials for the new app on the Isle of Wight are not successful, do you have a plan B?
Hancock: "Yes we do, we'll look at doing it in a different way and increase the number of human tracers, because the app is only part of a whole programme.
"There's testing, human contact tracing and then technology. It's all about tracing the virus and following the virus as it spreads.
"We wouldn't know where people are all the time, I've seen those concerns and they are wrong, they are not based on what's happening in the app.
"The point of the app is that the data is shared on your own phone until you choose to go to the NHS because you get a test if you've got positive symptoms.
"I've seen articles about this and questions about this but they are based on a misunderstanding of what the app does and to prove the point we've published the source code of the app so anyone can go and have a look at how it works and how it protects your privacy while also being so important for the health of the nation.
"It protects you, it protects the people you are close to and it protects the community.
"We have taken concerns into account, we have an ethics advisory board, we'll be publishing the data impact assessment and all of the information around this but we've published the source code so you can see what the app does.
"And if you download the app the data of who you are in contact with stays on your phone, it doesn't go to us until you come to us and say I've got the symptoms I need a positive test."
Burley: A final thought, what are you most looking forward to when lockdown ends?
Hancock: "Going to Suffolk. I've been stuck in London, I haven't been to Suffolk to my constituency for probably two months now.
"I can still do my job as a local MP through emails and phones, but just getting out to the countryside, getting lungfuls of fresh air."