'Profoundly sorry for each death,' says former UK health secretary over Covid pandemic

Former UK health secretary Matt Hancock has said that he is 'profoundly sorry for each death' in the UK caused by coronavirus. He is facing public enquiry into the Covid pandemic in the UK and was questioned by Hugo Keith KC, the lead counsel for the inquiry.

Hancock, who was health secretary during and at the height of the pandemic, said that it was a mistake to consider that the pandemic would be flu-based and that it was not possible to contain the spread of coronavirus. Hancock told the inquiry that he “bore ministerial responsibility for that calamitous state of affairs”.

“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,” said Hancock, as quoted by The Guardian.

The former health secretary said that the main error had been to assume that Covid virus cannot be stopped from spreading.

“The doctrine of the UK was to plan for the consequences of a disaster,” Hancock said. “Can we buy enough body bags? Where are we going to bury the dead? And that was completely wrong."

“Of course, it’s important to have that in case you failed to stop a pandemic. But central to pandemic planning needs to be how do you stop that disaster from happening in the first place. How do you suppress the virus?”

'Huge error in the doctrine'

Keith attempted to grill Hancock and ask why in the 18 months before the pandemic when he was the health secretary, he did not attempt to improve the situation and ensure that the UK was prepared.

“Because I was assured that the UK planning was among the best and in some instances the best in the world,” Hancock said. “Of course, in hindsight, I wish I’d spent that short period of time as health secretary before the pandemic struck changing the entire attitude to how we respond to a pandemic.”

Hancock admitted that there was a “huge error in the doctrine”.

“If I may say so, I am profoundly sorry, for the impact that had, I’m profoundly sorry for each death that has occurred. And I also understand why, for some, it will be hard to take that apology from me," he said.

“I understand that, I get it. But it is honest and heartfelt. And I’m not very good at talking about my emotions on how I feel. But that is honest and true. And all I can do is ensure that this inquiry gets to the bottom of it and that for the future we learn the right lessons so that we stop a pandemic in its tracks much, much earlier.”

(With inputs from agencies)

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