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
The NHS in England came within “six or seven hours” of running out of gowns and other protective equipment during the Covid pandemic, Matt Hancock has said. The former health secretary was giving evidence for the third time at the Covid inquiry, about the impact on healthcare systems. He stated there was never a “national … Read more
“The mayor and 10 leaders in Greater Manchester, including a Conservative leader, spent many hours trying to negotiate a deal with the government… it would not have been right to place further restrictions on the residents of Greater Manchester without the financial package to support them.” Source link
The ex-health secretary also said a “toxic culture”, driven by Dominic Cummings, hindered the Covid response. Source link
Former NHS boss Sir Simon Stevens tells the Covid inquiry the “horrible dilemma never crystallised”. Source link
Ex-health secretary says pandemic planning focused too much on burying dead rather than stopping disaster. Source link
Prof Whitty is shown telling Mr Hancock that the UK’s chief medical officers, as well as Sage, the government’s group of scientific advisers, were “in favour” of a pilot “with presumption in favour of testing for 5 days in lieu of isolation (alternative 10 days isolation)”. Source link
Helen Whately, who was social care minister at the time, travelled 50 miles to a Covid test centre so a relative could be tested in September 2020, according to the Telegraph. There were restricted numbers of home testing kits and the public had to book a slot at a testing centre, where they could swab … Read more
At the time, the vaccine programme had just started rolling out, and the teaching unions were once again putting up objections to having schools fully open, arguing it would put their members at risk. Although throughout the pandemic teachers were at no higher risk of being infected than average. Shop workers and health staff, for … Read more
Leaked messages show the then-health and education secretaries clashed over classes resuming. Source link