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<p>The Secretary of State and I are working closely with the Northern Ireland Executive
on the response to Covid-19.</p><p>As my Hon Friend will be aware, health is a devolved
matter. The Covid-19 dashboard on the Department of Health’s website provides daily
updates on the number of confirmed outbreaks in NI care homes. This dashboard is the
responsibility of NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) statistics within the
Department of Health and can be found on the following link:</p><p><a href="https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/articles/covid-19-daily-dashboard-updates"
target="_blank">https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/articles/covid-19-daily-dashboard-updates</a></p><p>Supporting
the care home sector through this pandemic has been a critical part of the UK’s response,
and while public health and social care are devolved, the UK Government has provided
support to the Department of Health where necessary, including increasing testing
capacity, with over 1 million tests provided under the national testing initiative,
providing vaccines across the UK and supporting healthcare in Northern Ireland with
over £3bn extra funding.</p><p>The UK Government is ensuring essential services are
protected. That is why we have committed to offer the first vaccine dose to all those
aged 80 and over, care home residents and staff, and frontline health and social care
workers by 15 February, in line with advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination
and Immunisation.</p>
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