COVID-19
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NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard has announced she will stand down from her post at the end of the current financial year, as health service leaders stressed the need for a “new relationship” with the Department of Health and Social Care. Pritchard became NHS England chief in the summer of 2021 after serving as…
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The COVID vaccine rollout is widely seen as a rare pandemic success for the UK government. The UK Health Security Agency has calculated that 123,000 deaths were prevented in the first nine months of the jab being used. And according to the World Health Organisation, more deaths were prevented through vaccination in the UK than…
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Focus during the UK inquiry on COVID-19 policies shifted to limited mandatory vaccinations, which the counsel to the inquiry describes as a “highly contentious topic”. Hugo Keith KC says support for the policy in the UK was “generally quite low”, but it came into effect for staff in care homes in England in October 2021.…
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The chair of the public inquiry Baroness Heather Hallett is said to be ready to make recommendations around the use of social media and its role in spreading false information as the COVID-19 inquiry resumes. Kirit Mistry worked as a COVID champion in Leicester during the pandemic and has contributed to the inquiry’s Every Story…
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Introduction The pressure to perform in the workplace is omnipresent (Mitchell et al., 2019) and increases even more when a person is immersed in a range of technologies that are seen as complex and cause employees to be stressed (Ayyagari, Grover, & Purvis, 2011; Tarafdar et al., 2010). The use of diverse applications and the…
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Matt Hancock has defended using a taxpayer-funded Jaguar to take him to the COVID Inquiry – despite resigning from the government more than two years ago. The Department for Health confirmed it provided the former health secretary with the chauffeur-driven car on three occasions when he appeared before the inquiry in June, November and December last year.…
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Abstract Purpose This systematic review paper aims to examine extant empirical research involving educational technology during COVID-19 to provide an aggregated analysis of how the pandemic has influenced educational technology research. Design/methodology/approach Using a Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis systematic review and an integrative review methodology, 50 primary research studies were selected…
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Johnson apologises to victims – as four people removed from room Moments after being sworn in, Boris Johnson begins speaking and tells the inquiry he is “glad”. He starts to say “how sorry I am for the pain and the loss” – before he is interrupted by the inquiry chair. “Please sit down,” she tells…
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After disruption at the start, Hugo Keith KC, counsel for the inquiry, begins his questioning of Boris Johnson. He is asked about the disclosure of COVID-related documents, WhatsApps, emails and notes. “I’ve done my best to give everything of any conceivable relevance,” Mr Johnson says. Asked if this has always been his position, Mr Johnson…
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Johnson ‘can’t answer’ if ministers’ decision-making led to more deaths Boris Johnson is asked whether, with hindsight, he believes the government could have done better in its COVID response. Mr Johnson says the answer is that “with hindsight, it may be easy to see things that we could have done differently” but “at the time,…
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Why did the UK suffer such a high rate of excess deaths? Hugo Keith KC says the UK had one of the highest rates of excess deaths in Europe during the pandemic, with almost all other countries in western Europe having a lower level. Boris Johnson disagrees, saying the ONS data he saw put the…
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‘Strong arguments’ against going into lockdown ‘too early’ in March 2020 Boris Johnson says the issue of the timing of national lockdowns was “clearly something that we considered very hard at the time”. He adds there were “strong arguments against going too early into lockdown”, especially when it came to the first lockdown called in…
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For the bereaved families attending the hearing and beyond, a lot hangs on the manner of Boris Johnson’s apology as well as the fact of it. In the inquiry room he apologised just for their experience of COVID – their “pain, loss and suffering”. In a section of his witness statement – which we will…
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Nigerian scientists and researchers were not able to win the sum of N36 million offered by the Federal Government as reward for discovering cures for COVID-19 and Lassa Fever, checks have revealed. The prize was announced on February 13, 2020, by then Minister of Science and Technology (now Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology), Dr…
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Leaders shared concerns that a lack of confidence in policing could ‘spill over into public order issues’ – Patel The inquiry’s counsel Hugo Keith KC now moves to discuss data released in June 2020. He says it showed there was a “disproportionate imposition of fixed penalty notices on people of black and ethnic minority backgrounds.” …
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Did UK govt ever consider banning travel between England and Scotland? Dame Priti Patel is now being asked a question by a representative of the Scottish COVID Bereaved Group. Claire Mitchell KC asks the former home secretary if there were any discussions about banning travel between Scotland and England or Wales and England. She replies…
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