Public Health England Review: Covid-19 Disparities

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 10:37 am on 4 June 2020.

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Photo of Kemi Badenoch Kemi Badenoch The Exchequer Secretary, Minister for Equalities 10:37, 4 June 2020

That is absolutely correct; I agree with my right hon. Friend. At the risk of sounding clichéd, this is a Government that we want to work for everyone, but it is not yet fully clear what drives the differences in outcomes between males and females. Some could be driven by risks of acquiring infection due to behavioural and occupational factors—again, that is something that the PHE review was not able to look at—or by differences in how women and men develop symptoms and biological and immune differences. However, my right hon. Friend is absolutely right; this is something that does need to be looked into further, and we are actively working on that.