MATT HANCOCK hit back at BBC host Martha Kearney as she accused the Health Secretary of “letting the care sector down” during the coronavirus crisis.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme, Matt Hancock defended the Government’s latest coronavirus rules announcement and claimed the message had been received loud and clear by Britons. But when BBC host Martha Kearney suggested that the care sector had been “let down” in the crisis, the Health Secretary called that criticism “really unfair”.
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The BBC host put to him that more care workers had died than doctors or nurses.
“No, I think that that’s really unfair,” he said. “The reason is this: Some of our most vulnerable people live in care homes and yet only around a quarter of deaths that have been in care homes.
“That is much lower than most international comparators.
“And at the same time, we’ve put in place those measures to protect people in care homes.
“I think the fact that, among people who work in the NHS, no more people have died than in the general population, I think that is a testament to how the NHS has performed.
“In almost all epidemics like this, it is doctors and nurses who tend to bear the brunt and so far, in this epidemic, in this country, there has been no higher death rate among healthcare workers.
“I think that is a really good thing.”
Mr Hancock also said the Government’s decision to lift the ban on driving to beauty spots for exercise should not risk increasing the spread of the virus in such areas.
Asked whether people starting to use beauty spots again could spread Covid-19 in those communities, the Health Secretary told the BBC: “Not if people socially distance when they get there, and hence we’ve kept the socially distancing rules very clearly in place.”
Asked if there is a limit on how far people can drive, he said: “No, there isn’t.
“But this isn’t for people to move house or to go on holiday or to be able to stay.”
Speaking earlier on Tuesday on BBC Breakfast, Mr Hancock said the household “bubble” idea will help relieve the “anguish” of people wanting to see their grandparents or partners.
The Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) has been asked to look at the idea of a household “bubble” in the coming weeks, where one household is allowed to join up with and interact with one other household only.
Mr Hancock told BBC Breakfast: “The principle behind this bubble idea, which we are looking at with the scientists to see how big an impact it would have on R, the principle is that if you’re in one household and essentially you don’t see anybody from outside your household, and then there’s another household – say it’s another part of your family – and they don’t see anyone from outside their household, then the risk is lower of those two households meeting each other, so long as they don’t form a chain and don’t see people in other households.
“It will help if we can do it in a way that doesn’t impact on R. I think it will help with this anguish of a lot of people wanting to see family members in another household, whether that’s a grandparent – although there are the risks for older grandparents – or for people who are in a relationship but are in different households, and I understand that yearning as well.”
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