Hancock under fire over care home deaths and 'chaotic' Covid response

MATT HANCOCK faced fresh criticism today over the deaths of thousands of people in care homes during the Covid pandemic after the leak of WhatsApp messages which revealed "chaos" in the Government's response to the crisis.

- Nicholas Cecil

The former health secretary was engulfed in a row over whether he rejected advice from one of England's health chiefs at the start of the pandemic over testing people going into care homes.

His claim to have put a "protective ring" around care homes has been thrown into greater doubt.

Mr Hancock faced allegations in The Daily Telegraph, which obtained more than 100,000 WhatsApp messages between him, ministers and officials, that he had not followed the advice of England's Chief Medical Officer Sir Chris Whitty.

Mr Hancock furiously rejected the claims, arguing that he had not initially ordered testing on people from the community going into care homes because of testing restraints.

But shadow health secretary Wes Streeting tweeted: "The claim that the Government threw a 'protective ring' around care homes during Covid has proven to be a sham.

"They ignored the Chief Medical Officer and people died. How many lives could have been saved?"

However, it was far from clear this morning whether Mr Hancock had limited testing for care homes against the advice of Sir Chris. The truth of the matter seems to centre on what was said at a meeting on testing in the early stages of the pandemic.