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LONDON — An outbreak of nearly 200 coronavirus cases took place at a controversial former army barracks in Kent where hundreds of asylum seekers have been housed since September, the Home Office acknowledged Wednesday.
Matthew Rycroft, the U.K. department’s permanent secretary, told MPs there had been 178 positive tests at the Napier Barracks facility in January and a further 19 in February. It had previously been reported that asylum seekers had tested positive in the facility.
The barracks, located in Folkestone and built in 1890, are divided into blocks with two 14-bed dormitories in each, as well as shared showers and toilets. Public Health England warned the Home Office in September that the dormitories were not suitable as accommodation for large numbers of people during a pandemic.
Rycroft’s testimony marks the first time the Home Office has put figures on the scale of the outbreak at Napier Barracks. It came amid calls for the barracks to be closed down, and after lawyers filed court applications for the transfer of several asylum seekers from Napier to an alternative facility, citing unsanitary conditions.
Committee Chair and Labour MP Yvette Cooper said the number of cases “looked like pretty clear evidence” that “those dormitories were not COVID-safe” and requested the publication of the public health advice the department had been given regarding Napier Barracks.
“On what planet did you think that in the middle of a COVID crisis, it was safe or sensible to put over 20 people in a dormitory so they were all sleeping together in the same room with the same air overnight each night?” Cooper said.
Rycroft replied that the Home Office was following the government’s guidance “at every stage and the guidance was to ensure there was as much space as possible, certainly two meters between beds.”
The official committed to “provide as much transparency as possible” subject to the ongoing court cases.
Home Secretary Priti Patel said the cases were partly explained by asylum seekers mixing among themselves and not respecting social distancing rules at the facility. She told the committee that “within contingency accommodation, initial accommodation for asylum seekers, people do mingle.”
“People were also not following the rules,” she said.
But Cooper branded that “a bit of an astonishing response” and accused Patel of effectively blaming asylum seekers for getting infected despite conditions at the facility.
This article is part of POLITICO’s premium policy service: Pro Health Care. From drug pricing, EMA, vaccines, pharma and more, our specialized journalists keep you on top of the topics driving the health care policy agenda. Email [email protected] for a complimentary trial.
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