The public needs better information about the coronavirus outbreak, Brighton Pavilion MP Caroline Lucas told the Health Secretary today (Tuesday 11 February).
The Green MP called on Health Secretary Matt Hancock to launch a more high-profile public health campaign to better inform people about the outbreak.
In the House of Commons, she said that people needed more timely and accurate information which went beyond how to best avoid infection (tissue use and washing hands) to cover issues like what self-isolation actually means for people.
This public health campaign needed to be much more pro-active, without causing panic or compromising patient confidentiality, she said.
It needed to include other government departments such as the Department for Education so that schools were able to take appropriate action.
She also asked what the Foreign Office was doing to provide assistance and reassurance to British citizens who were being quarantined and placed in isolation in other countries such as France.
Mr Hancock agreed that the Department for Education should be involved so that schools had the reassurance that they needed.
Ms Lucas said: “People in Brighton are telling me that they don’t feel they are getting the information they need, which has fed anxiety in the city.
“I’m glad the health minister recognises that this information needs to go further than the health authorities and that other areas like schools need to be kept better informed and given advice over how to communicate to pupils and parents to give them reassurance.”
