Hancock: Not Possible To Test Everyone

Matt Hancock has admitted “it wasn’t possible” to test all hospital patients discharged into care homes for Covid-19 – but he refused to answer questions about whether he had lied about the crisis.

- Pippa Crerar

The Health Secretary defended the testing regime that is blamed for the death of vulnerable residents, claiming there was no other option. At a Downing Street briefing, he said: “Because we didn’t have the testing capacity at the start of the pandemic, it wasn’t possible.”

But when quizzed by the Mirror, he failed to explain why he had signed off the strategy if the testing capacity was not yet in place.