Covid inquiry: Gap in early NI response, says top scientist (2024)

There was a gap in Northern Ireland's early response to the Covid pandemic, the chief scientific advisor has said.

Prof Ian Young was testifying at the UK Covid Inquiry, which is sitting in Belfast.

He said his part-time role had not been replaced in February and March 2020 while he was on leave.

The first Covid lockdown began on 23 March, the same day Prof Young returned to his role.

That absence meant there was no local health representative attending Sage (Strategic Advisory Group of Experts) meetings.

The Sage group is a committee of scientists responsible for advising meetings on Covid.

Prof Young said there was a lot of catching up to do and it was not until mid-April that he had time to establish a broader group of experts within Northern Ireland.

He told the inquiry he had not been integrated into the Department of Health's (DoH) initial response to the pandemic as he hadn't been directed to by anyone in the department.

He said it was his expectation that he would be "called on" for his advice when others thought it was "necessary".

When Prof Young returned to his job several significant decisions had already been taken in Northern Ireland with regards to its response to the pandemic.

His evidence was part of week two of the inquiry's sitting in Northern Ireland.

The inquiry was told that, by the end of January 2020, Northern Ireland was aware of two different scenarios provided by the UK government, which outlined the potential impact of massive loss of life as the virus began to take hold around the world.

The inquiry's lead counsel is continuing to look at who exactly was in charge and taking he lead on preparing for the impact of a global pandemic.

Prof Young also said:

Earlier, the top civil servant at the DoH during the pandemic was challenged over who should have taken the lead advising Stormont departments at the start of the crisis.

Richard Pengelly was questioned by inquiry chairwoman Baroness Hallett.

He said his department led the health response, but did not believe it was responsible for taking the lead for other parts of government.

He said his department "cannot dictate or mandate other departments".

Baroness Hallett replied that the department may not be able to "dictate" to other departments, but she suggested "you can lead".

"Forgive me, I don't understand what lead means if it doesn't?" Mr Pengelly asked her.

"As in encouraging others to check that their resilience is better, getting them prepared?" Baroness Hallett replied.

Mr Pengelly suggested that was in fact the role of civil contingencies planners, through Stormont's Executive Office.

Mr Pengelly also said:

Mr Pengelly was also questioned by Peter Wilco*ck KC, counsel for the NI Covid-19 bereaved families for justice.

Mr Wilco*ck put it to the former permanent secretary that based on evidence by Eddie Lynch, the commissioner for older people in Northern Ireland, older people had been forgotten about in pandemic planning.

Mr Pengelly accepted that a Covid-19 emergency response strategy, published by the department in March 2020, made no specific mention of the "acutely vulnerable status of older people".

However, he said that at the time the document was published his department understood that the Covid response would include this group, which, he added, it did.

Mr Pengelly was asked by Mr Wilco*ck if it was surprising the document did not refer to the importance of infection prevention and control measures in the "microenvironment of care homes" in particular.

He responded the document did not get into the "granular detail" across every sector and that there were other areas not mentioned.

"The fact that something is not specifically mentioned in there does not mean that it's not strategically important, and I can't emphasise that point enough," he said.

"Care homes were hugely important to us and particularly the care of all residents within care homes and indeed the staff."