(C) OpenDemocracy This story was originally published by OpenDemocracy and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Covid inquiry: Public Health Wales chief reveals fear that ‘politics could trump safety’ [1] [] Date: 2024-03 Wales’s top public health officials were warning that “national politics could trump public safety” before the UK had even confirmed its first coronavirus lockdown. The early stages of the pandemic were marked by a scramble across the world to develop and buy effective tests for the emerging disease. But as well as different countries scrapping it out for diagnostic kits, claims have also been made that the home nations were also forced into horse trading. And speaking to the UK’s Covid-19 inquiry today, Quentin Sandifer, former executive director of public services and medical director at Public Health Wales, said concerns were being raised about this within weeks of Wales identifying its first case. Get our free Daily Email Get one whole story, direct to your inbox every weekday. Sign up now In an email to Rob Orford, Wales’s chief scientific adviser for health, Sandifer said he was “very worried” about the situation facing the country. “Above all else I am really worried that national politics could trump public safety and need in Wales and we end up losing out badly in Wales,” he wrote. “My worry is that we lose that and are then wholly dependent on the Amazon-Boots deal and whatever UK gov decide to throw our way.” His email also warned: “Tracey has been in touch with Alex at PD this morning who sounds like he is under immense pressure to redirect Roche tests elsewhere.” Sandifer was not asked to clarify who Tracey or Alex were, or what PD referred to. The inquiry’s module focusing on how the pandemic was handled in Wales kicked off in Cardiff last week. Disparities in the responses to the virus on either sides of the Anglo-Welsh border have already been raised, including criticism of the devolved administration’s approach to key aspects, such as social care. The first case of Covid-19 in Wales was confirmed on February 28, 2020. According to the latest data, there have since been 12,532 Covid-related deaths in Wales. It has previously been reported that the UK government “clearly prioritised” Covid tests for England, according to BBC probes into a deal for pharmaceuticals giant Roche to supply Covid testing kits for Wales which later collapsed. Asked about his email, which was sent on 22 March 2020, the day before Boris Johnson announced the UK’s first national lockdown, Sandifer told the inquiry: “This was around the time that we were in discussion with Public Health England about access to tests from Roche. “I had been party to some of the discussions with [Tracey Cooper, chief executive of Public Health Wales] and I had been copied into most of the emails and, at this date, I thought that there was an agreement for 5,000 tests to come to Wales. “However, we didn’t have that in writing. “My concern at this stage was that we were going to lose those tests and, of course, subsequent events showed we did and we got about 500 tests. “I was probably stepping out of line by speculating whether there was anything at UK government level that might be behind that and emphasising my concern about the implications of losing that test capacity on public safety and need in Wales.” Yesterday, openDemocracy’s reporter covering the inquiry noted that the “rapid-fire” handling of some witnesses had left some key questions unanswered. The inquiry continues. openDemocracy is fundraising to pay reporters to cover every day of the public hearings. Please support us by donating here. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/covid-inquiry-wales-national-politics-could-trump-public-safety-warning/ Published and (C) by OpenDemocracy Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/opendemocracy/