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Matt Hancock criticises UK's 'body bag' approach to Covid Matt Hancock criticises UK's 'body bag' approach to Covid
(about 1 hour later)
Covid Inquiry: Hancock 'profoundly sorry for each death'Covid Inquiry: Hancock 'profoundly sorry for each death'
Covid Inquiry: Hancock 'profoundly sorry for each death'Covid Inquiry: Hancock 'profoundly sorry for each death'
Ex-health secretary Matt Hancock has criticised the UK's pandemic planning ahead of Covid, saying it was too focused on dealing with deaths rather than averting them. Ex-health secretary Matt Hancock has criticised the UK's pandemic planning before Covid hit, saying it was "completely wrong".
He told the Covid inquiry the focus was to plan for the consequences of a disaster: "Can we buy enough body bags, where are we going to bury the dead? That was completely wrong." He told the Covid Inquiry that planning was focused on the provision of body bags and how to bury the dead, rather than stopping the virus taking hold.
He said he was "profoundly sorry" for each death, but acknowledged that - for some - his apology would be "hard to take". He said he was "profoundly sorry" for each death.
As Mr Hancock arrived at the inquiry, a widow showed him images of her husband, who died from Covid. After giving evidence he approached some of the bereaved families, but they turned their backs on him as he left.
Lorelei King, 69, was holding two A4 posters, which she showed to the former health secretary as he stepped out of a black Jaguar. The former health secretary, who answered questions from the inquiry on Tuesday, said he understood his apology might be difficult for families to accept, even though it was "honest and heartfelt".
One poster displayed an image of Mr Hancock with Mrs King's husband, Vincent Marzello, who died in a care home in March 2020, aged 72. He added it was a "colossal" failure to assume the virus spreading could not be stopped.
"You shook my husband's hand for your photo op," the photo was captioned. Under questioning from Covid Inquiry counsel member KC Hugo Keith, Mr Hancock stressed that the "attitude, the doctrine of the UK was to plan for the consequences of a disaster".
Mr Hancock didn't respond as he walked in to the building. He said the government was focused on different questions, such as "can we buy enough body bags?" and "where are we going to bury the dead?"
Mrs King told journalists: "Care homes became charnel houses because there was no testing, there was insufficient PPE, but, most disastrously, it's because they discharged people from hospitals without testing them." "That was completely wrong," he added.
She called on Mr Hancock to "tell the truth" to the inquiry, adding: "The bereaved families deserve that much."
Covid: How many people died?Covid: How many people died?
'Lions led by structural donkeys' What is the Covid Inquiry and how long will it take?
Inside the inquiry, KC Hugo Keith asked Mr Hancock why, if he was so critical of the UK's approach to pandemic planning, was it not changed while he was health secretary. Ex-medical officer close to tears over Covid deaths
UK public services were depleted when Covid hit
Mr Keith asked Mr Hancock why, if he was so critical of the UK's approach to pandemic planning, it was not changed while he was health secretary.
Mr Hancock said: "The only answer I can give is because I was assured that we had the best system in place in the world.Mr Hancock said: "The only answer I can give is because I was assured that we had the best system in place in the world.
"In hindsight, I wish I'd spent that short period of time [before the pandemic] changing the entire attitude to how we respond to a pandemic.""In hindsight, I wish I'd spent that short period of time [before the pandemic] changing the entire attitude to how we respond to a pandemic."
He praised workers across health and social care during the pandemic, to which Hugo Keith makes the analogy: "Lions led by structural donkeys, Mr Hancock. Personally, everyone gave their all but the system was not fit for purpose, was it?" When Mr Hancock praised workers across health and social care during the pandemic, Hugo Keith made the analogy: "Lions led by structural donkeys, Mr Hancock. Personally, everyone gave their all but the system was not fit for purpose, was it?"
Mr Hancock replied: "That's absolutely right."Mr Hancock replied: "That's absolutely right."
What is the Covid inquiry and how long will it take? The former health secretary added: "I bear responsibility for all the things that happened, not only in my department, but also the agencies that reported to me as secretary of state."
Ex-medical officer close to tears over Covid deaths What else did we learn?
UK public services were depleted when Covid hit The inquiry also heard from the former health secretary that medicines for intensive care were "within hours" of running out at the peak of the pandemic.
The former health secretary was repeatedly asked about the recommendations from Exercise Cygnus, a three-day test run in October 2016 to find out how prepared the UK was for a influenza pandemic. He said he had to overrule initial advice not to quarantine people being brought back from Wuhan early in the pandemic, and that everybody in the Western world missed that lockdowns would be necessary.
It concluded that the UK's plan was not sufficient to "cope with the extreme demands of a severe pandemic" He also criticised the World Health Organization (WHO) for giving advice which "stated that we should not have lockdowns".
The Inquiry has seen evidence that only eight of the 22 recommendations made after that exercise had been fully addressed by the time Covid hit with work on the other 14, including to prepare the social care sector, still ongoing. He said it was "madness" but he had to "overrule" initial advice not to quarantine people coming in from China.
Mr Hancock said that some of that work had been paused because of the need to prepare the country for a no-deal Brexit. He also blamed WHO for having "written into the international health regulations that you shouldn't close borders".
But he said that he was "not convinced" that, even if all those recommendations had been addressed, the country would have been in a better place to deal with Covid. Because there was "no such thing" as mass contact tracing systems as the pandemic took hold, Mr Hancock said the inability to test people in large numbers was "terrible".
He described Exercise Cygnes as "flawed in its central assumption" that a pandemic was a disaster that needed to be "cleaned up" rather than something that needed to be stopped or contained in the first place. He also used the word terrible to describe the government having no idea whether care homes had the right protections in place.
He said the government didn't even know how many care home residents there were at the start of the pandemic.
However, he said the responsibility for ensuring the social care sector was prepared for a pandemic fell to local authorities, and he "didn't have the levers to act".
The former health secretary was also repeatedly asked about the recommendations from Exercise Cygnus, a three-day test run in October 2016 to find out how prepared the UK was for a influenza pandemic.
It concluded that the UK's plan was not sufficient to "cope with the extreme demands of a severe pandemic".
The inquiry has seen evidence that only eight of the 22 recommendations made after that exercise had been fully addressed by the time Covid hit, with work on the other 14, including preparing the social care sector, still ongoing.
He described Exercise Cygnus as "flawed in its central assumption" that a pandemic was a disaster that needed to be "cleaned up" rather than something that needed to be stopped or contained in the first place.
He said: "The doctrinal flaw was the biggest by a long way because if we'd had a flu pandemic, we still would have had the problem of no plan in place for lockdown, no prep for how to do one, no work on what, how best to lock down with the least damage.He said: "The doctrinal flaw was the biggest by a long way because if we'd had a flu pandemic, we still would have had the problem of no plan in place for lockdown, no prep for how to do one, no work on what, how best to lock down with the least damage.
"I understand deeply the consequences of lockdown and the negative consequences for many, many people - many of which persist to this day.""I understand deeply the consequences of lockdown and the negative consequences for many, many people - many of which persist to this day."
He said he had to overrule initial advice not to quarantine people being brought back from Wuhan early in the pandemic, and that everybody in the Western world missed that lockdowns would be necessary. Mr Hancock said that some of that work on the Exercise Cygnus had been paused because of the need to prepare the country for a no-deal Brexit.
He said the government also had no idea whether care homes had the right protections in place, describing the situation as "terrible" - the government didn't even know how many care home residents there were at the start of the pandemic. But he said that he was "not convinced" that, even if all those recommendations had been addressed, the country would have been in a better place to deal with Covid.
As a result, the UK was "better prepared in terms of supply chains," but the "overall impact" was hard to judge.
"I'm afraid it's impossible to know," he added.
Bereaved relatives demand answers
When Mr Hancock first arrived at the inquiry, a widow showed him images of her husband, who died from Covid.
Lorelei King, 69, was holding two A4 posters, which she showed to the former health secretary as he stepped out of a black Jaguar.
One poster displayed an image of Mr Hancock with Mrs King's husband, Vincent Marzello, who died in a care home in March 2020, aged 72.
"You shook my husband's hand for your photo op," the photo was captioned. The other picture showed Mr Marzello's coffin.
Mr Hancock didn't respond as he walked in to the building.
Mrs King told journalists: "Care homes became charnel houses because there was no testing, there was insufficient PPE, but, most disastrously, it's because they discharged people from hospitals without testing them."
She called on Mr Hancock to "tell the truth" to the inquiry, adding: "The bereaved families deserve that much."
What is the Covid Inquiry?What is the Covid Inquiry?
It is about going through what happened and learning lessonsIt is about going through what happened and learning lessons
No-one will be found guilty or innocentNo-one will be found guilty or innocent
Any recommendations made do not have to be adopted by governmentsAny recommendations made do not have to be adopted by governments
The inquiry has no formal deadline but is due to hold public hearings until 2026The inquiry has no formal deadline but is due to hold public hearings until 2026
Scotland is holding a separate inquiry in addition to the wider UK oneScotland is holding a separate inquiry in addition to the wider UK one
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Related TopicsRelated Topics
Coronavirus public inquiryCoronavirus public inquiry
Matthew HancockMatthew Hancock