What's happened
Chief Medical Officer Sir Chris Whitty is giving evidence to the Covid-19 Inquiry, following former chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance's insights into the government's handling of the pandemic.
Why it matters
The evidence session by Sir Chris Whitty is significant as it provides an opportunity to gain insights into the government's handling of the pandemic from one of the most prominent figures in the country's response to Covid-19.
What the papers say
The Independent says that Sir Patrick Vallance's diary entries revealed that Boris Johnson was 'bamboozled' by the graphs and data presented to him during the pandemic. Metro also reports on Sir Patrick's diary entries, highlighting how Mr. Johnson was regularly shown graphs and data that confused him. Politics.co.uk adds that Sir Patrick accused the Treasury of 'pure dogma' during the pandemic. The Independent further emphasizes Sir Patrick's diary entries, which described Mr. Johnson as 'weak and indecisive' and struggling to understand scientific concepts.
How we got here
Former chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance's insights into the government's handling of the pandemic were revealed through his diary entries. These entries provided extraordinary insights into his view of Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak, and the decisions taken by politicians during the crisis.
More on these topics
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Sir Patrick John Thompson Vallance FRS FMedSci FRCP is a British physician, scientist, and clinical pharmacologist who has worked in both academia and industry and, since March 2018, has been the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government of the United Ki
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Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson Hon FRIBA is a British politician, writer, and former journalist serving as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party since 2019.
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The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. It was first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, China.