Petition · past parliament

Prioritise home carers for coronavirus testing (in addition to NHS staff).

Rejected 18 signatures

What the petition asks

There is a lot of emphasis on the need for NHS staff needing tests for coronavirus, which is important.
However, home carers mostly work for companies that are independent from the NHS.
Carers look after some of the country’s most vulnerable people in their own homes; out of a clinical setting.
The people that carers look after are most at risk from the coronavirus; causing serious illness or death.
Many clients are elderly, disabled or have serious illness or health conditions that compromise their ability to fight off the virus.
Many carers have family they live with - If someone has a symptom in the family and so on - a carer could be off work for weeks. Who will look after the clients then?
Tests for carers will help keep the clients safe and help keep carers at work.

Why it was rejected

There was already a petition about this issue. Duplicates are rejected so signatures collect in one place.

You may wish to sign this petition calling for the same action: COVID-19 tests for everyone working in Social Care.

You can find out more about coronavirus and how you can protect yourself and others here:

www.gov.uk/coronavirus
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

The Government has also created an online service to help you out what you can do if you’re struggling because of coronavirus: https://www.gov.uk/find-coronavirus-support

You can read NHS tips to help if you are worried about coronavirus here: https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/coronavirus-covid-19-anxiety-tips

You can read impartial analysis of the Government response to coronavirus and policy developments here:
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/coronavirus/

You may also be interested to know that because of the large number of petitions that have been started in relation to coronavirus, the Petitions Committee has been questioning the Government about its response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Find out more and watch the Committee put questions suggested by petitioners to Government Ministers and the Deputy Chief Medical Officer: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/news/145767/committee-question-deputy-chief-medical-officer-and-ministers-on-coronavirus-response/

Read letters asking further questions of Government Ministers: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/publications/3/correspondence/

Timeline

22 Mar 2020 Petition opened for signatures
27 Apr 2020 Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 18
Status Rejected
Rejected 27 Apr 2020

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.