Among Western European countries, the United Kingdom has been the most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, with more than 3,000 deaths per million inhabitants. While the Conservative government of Boris Johnson at the time is under investigation, having suffered numerous criticisms over the management of this crisis, the tabloid Daily Telegraph reveals messages from the former Minister of Health proving that he had ignored the advice of specialists.
From our correspondent in London,
THE Daily Telegraph accused then-Health Minister Matt Hancock for ignoring the advice of the Chief Medical Officer. One of Britain’s leading daily newspapers and tabloids was able to consult 100 000 WhatsApp messages from Matt Hancockexchanged at the time with his collaborators, the other members of the government and his advisers.
We learn that Matt Hancock has delayed in having all people arriving in retirement homes tested. The recommendation had been published on April 14, 2020 and the minister initially seems to support it. We are then at the very beginning of the Covid-19 crisis and knowledge of transmission is limited. But the next day, he announces that only people arriving from hospitals will be tested: a general screening, according to him, “ would interfere with the signal “.
At the time, Matt Hancock was promising to achieve 100,000 tests a month for the general British public and then seemed to fear that expanding testing in care homes would prevent him from achieving his goal.
These messages also highlight his apparent indifference to restrictions on visits to retirement homes, despite the very strong opposition of one of his secretaries of state. In total, 46 000 nursing home residents have died of Covid-19 in the UK.
A broken confidentiality agreement on behalf of “ public interest »
While the practices of the British press, especially the tabloids, are sometimes criticized, Matt Hancock himself transmitted these messages to a journalist from the Daily Telegraph. The story does not end there, however. Known for her anti-containment positions, journalist Isabelle Oakeshott had worked with the former minister on the writing of his memoirs, Pandemic Logs. She had then signed a confidentiality agreement… which she decided to break in the name of “ public interest “, by publishing” Lockdown Files “.
►To read: United Kingdom: faced with the public hospital crisis, the authorities call for caution
Methods obviously criticized by Matt Hancock, still an MP today. His spokespersons indicate that he was not given the opportunity to defend himself, having been warned ” late at night from the day before publication. According to him, Isabelle Oakshott would not have mentioned everything that happened on the periphery of WhatsApp messages: for example, the multiple meetings. Matt Hancock would have learned there in particular that universal screening in retirement homes was not feasible.
A very slow investigation into the government response to Covid-19
Even though Boris Johnson is no longer Prime Minister, the Conservative Party is still in power. In this context, an independent investigation examines the government’s response to the pandemic, an investigation has already taken a long time: the most pessimistic expect it to last 10 years. The committee has already refused to take into account several axes, for example racial inequalities, while the virus has been even more deadly for ethnic minorities.
This investigation has become a sea snake whose conclusions some fear will come so late that the main targets will no longer be in office, and too late to draw useful conclusions. It is also because of this slowness that Isabelle Oakeshott wanted to publish the messages.
►To read: United Kingdom: faced with the public hospital crisis, the authorities call for caution