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Proceeding contribution from Jonathan Ashworth (Labour) in the House of Commons on Wednesday, 16 June 2021. It occurred during Debates on delegated legislation on Coronavirus.


Coronavirus

My hon. Friend makes a good point. Of course I want to see terminus day. I want to see freedom; I want to get back to doing the things that I enjoy—although I am quite happy to sit in a group of six in a pub; I am not sure that I have more than six friends, Mr Deputy Speaker, so it has suited me in many ways. But more generally—[Interruption.] I see you have one less friend today, Secretary of State.

I am keen to see terminus day. But interestingly, although the Prime Minister, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and the Secretary of State have tried to hint that restrictions are coming to an end by

using the new phrase, “We have to learn to live with the virus like we live with flu,” the Secretary of State or the Prime Minister have not outlined to us what that means. They are trying to suggest to us that it is all going to go back to normal, but actually we put in place mitigations to deal with flu year by year. The hon. Member for Winchester (Steve Brine) was a Public Health Minister. He was very much involved in the flu vaccination campaign. We vaccinate children to deal with flu. We put infection control measures into care homes when there is a flu outbreak. There will have to be mitigations in place when we go back to living with this virus, but the Secretary of State must explain to us what those mitigations are. Will we continue wearing masks?


Secondary information

Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
697 cc335-6 
Session
2021-22
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Subjects
Care homes Immigration controls Disease control Festivals and special occasions India Staff Quarantine Screening Sports Vaccination House of Commons chamber Epidemiology Coronavirus Hybrid proceedings Hospitality industry Social distancing Weddings
Legislation
Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (Steps and Other Provisions) (England) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2021
Link
View this Proceeding contribution on hansard.parliament.uk