The Covid Inquiry Podcast – 49. ‘I wasn’t the decision maker’ – BBC Sounds
The Inquiry hears from the lead of the test and trace unit Source link
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Maharashtra sees a surge in COVID cases with 86 new cases reported, 6 dead
Representative image | Photo Credit: The Hindu With the surge in COVID cases, the Public Health Department of Maharashtra confirmed 86 new cases of COVID on Wednesday (May 28, 2025), raising the total cases to 521 across the State from January. Meanwhile, six patients, who had underlying health conditions, died of COVID. One patient died … Read more
Cash to self-isolate would have saved lives, Covid inquiry told
Covid inquiry Dido Harding said she had repeatedly urged greater financial support payments during the pandemic If the UK had spent more money helping people to self-isolate during the pandemic then fewer people would have been infected or died, the former head of NHS Test and Trace has said. Baroness Dido Harding, who was in … Read more
Boris Johnson wanted authoritarian Covid rules, inquiry hears
PA Media Lord Patrick Vallance, former government chief scientific adviser, gave evidence to the inquiry in west London Boris Johnson pushed for a more “ruthless, authoritarian approach” towards people who refused to self-isolate during the pandemic, according to documents seen by the Covid inquiry. The instinct of policy makers was to favour “punitive measures” over … Read more
Matt Hancock ignored call to test all NHS staff, Covid inquiry hears
Getty Images The government ignored an early warning by two Nobel prize-winning scientists that all healthcare workers should be routinely tested for coronavirus in the pandemic, the Covid inquiry has heard. The advice came in a strongly-worded letter sent in April 2020 by the chief executive of the Francis Crick Institute, Sir Paul Nurse, and … Read more
Blackpool athlete’s ‘long Covid’ turned out to be terminal cancer
A former triathlete whose terminal cancer was initially mistaken for long Covid has been given months to live. Olivia Knowles, from Blackpool, noticed something “wasn’t quite correct” in August 2023 while competing in the Half Ironman World Championship in Lahti, Finland. The two-mile swim and 56-mile cycle went smoothly but she added she “just wasn’t … Read more
Matt Hancock criticises ‘wholly naive’ and ‘hostile’ Covid inquiry
Matt Hancock has defended government deals to buy personal protective equipment (PPE) during the pandemic, saying the country was in a “desperate situation” at the time. In a bad-tempered session at the Covid inquiry, the former health secretary repeatedly criticised the line of questioning describing it as “naive”, “hostile” and “inappropriate”. He said he was … Read more
Norfolk ICU nurse: ‘Covid memories are in a box deep in my brain’
Nikki Fox Health correspondent, BBC East Nikki Fox/BBC Senior sister Lauren Jakes has worked in the critical care department of the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital for almost 14 years Five years on, Senior Sister Lauren Jakes still vividly remembers the moment she was told her ward was to expect the arrival of its very … Read more
Poorest children missing more school and further behind after Covid, study says
Branwen Jeffreys Education editor Getty Images The poorest children are missing more school and falling further behind classmates, research shared with the BBC suggests. According to new analysis by the Education Policy Institute (EPI) – which looked at pupil performance after the Covid-19 pandemic – children from the lowest income families are now up to … Read more
Baroness Mone accuses Covid inquiry of ‘establishment cover-up’
Baroness Mone and her husband Doug Barrowman have accused the Covid inquiry of an “establishment cover-up” after their second attempt to be given an official role in the inquiry was rejected. The couple claimed they were the targets of a “politically motivated witch hunt” after the inquiry’s chairwoman, Baroness Hallett, refused their application to be … Read more