More than 226,000 people in the UK have died with Covid on their death certificate
Former Health Secretary Matt Hancock is the latest senior politician to give evidence to the Covid Inquiry.
In public hearings, the inquiry has questioned a range of former and current ministers, officials and experts to examine the UK’s handling of the pandemic.
Separately, the government is challenging the inquiry’s request to see some messages sent between former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and colleagues.
What is a public inquiry?
Public inquiries respond to “public concern” about events. Established and funded by government, they are led by an independent chair.
An inquiry has the power to make people appear as witnesses and can demand evidence.
No one is found guilty or innocent, but conclusions about lessons learned are published. Inquiries can make recommendations although government does not have to accept them.
At the time, Mr Johnson said all aspects of the UK’s response would be “under the microscope”.
Who is leading the Covid inquiry?
She previously led the inquests into the 7/7 London bombings.
Baroness Hallett promised the inquiry would be “thorough and fair”
How long will the inquiry take?
The inquiry has no formal deadline but is due to hold public hearings across the UK until at least 2025.
How will the inquiry work?
Work in four areas has already begun:
- resilience and preparedness
- core UK decision-making and political governance
- the impact of Covid on healthcare systems
- vaccines, therapeutics and anti-viral treatment
Future strands – with hearings due in 2024 and 2025 – will look at:
- the care sector
- government procurement and PPE
- test and trace
- the government’s businesses and financial responses
- health inequalities
- education, children and young people
- other public services
What issues will the inquiry look at?
Baroness Hallett’s team is expected to focus on the biggest and most controversial aspects of the government’s response, including:
- the decision to delay lockdown at the very start of the pandemic, which some experts say cost thousands of lives
- the move to abandon testing in the community in March 2020
- the approach to care homes – where 40% of Covid deaths occurred in the first three months – including the lack of testing, PPE shortages and the acceptance of patients discharged from hospital when Covid first hit
The inquiry is also expected to consider whether too many restrictions were imposed as the pandemic progressed.
Over the course of 80 days in autumn 2020, for example, England went from the so-called “rule of six” to a tiered system of regulations, then into a national lockdown and then back to tiers.
Who will give evidence to the inquiry?
The first public hearings took evidence from independent experts, including infectious-diseases specialist Prof David Heymann, and some government officials.
Former Prime Minister David Cameron and former Chancellor George Osborne then appeared, as did the current Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden, and Chancellor (and former Health Secretary) Jeremy Hunt.
Sir Chris Whitty, the UK government’s chief medical adviser during the pandemic, his predecessor Sally Davies and the government’s chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance also gave evidence.
Prof Dame Sally Davies tells the Covid inquiry that “it wasn’t just the deaths, it was the way they died”.
He also said he was “profoundly sorry” for each Covid death, but acknowledged that – for some – his apology would be “hard to take”.
Members of the public have been invited to share their experiences through the inquiry’s Every Story Matters project.
Why does the inquiry want ministers’ WhatsApp messages?
They include former No 10 adviser Dominic Cummings, Cabinet Secretary Simon Case and former chancellor and current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he is happy for the inquiry to have access to his messages
Baroness Hallett said it was her job to decide if material was relevant.
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