![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://uknews.evprotec.com/covid-inquiry-focuses-on-government-as-stakes-rise/&media=https://uknews.evprotec.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/131312757_covid_wall_getty.jpg&description=Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Boris Johnson at the England v Wales Six Nations rugby international on 7 March 2020 Decisions made by Boris Johnson, his government and his team of scientists in the early days of the pandemic are to come under intense scrutiny as the second part of the Covid inquiry begins. Until Christmas, the spotlight will be on key decisions made to try to control the spread of the virus, from lockdowns to border controls to face masks. But what is at stake for the ex-prime minister and his former team? On 7 March 2020, England beat Wales in front of 82,000 in a Six Nations rugby match at Twickenham. Mr Johnson was in the crowd shaking hands with England captain Owen Farrell. On the same day, newspaper front pages were full of one subject. "Official: It's an outbreak," said the Sun. "Millions told: work at home to fight virus," said the Daily Mail. That weekend, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced a lockdown across the north of the country as Covid cases threatened to overwhelm hospitals. In the UK, where only two deaths had been confirmed, the message was still to wash our hands and carry on - cautiously - with our lives. The next week, horse racing's Cheltenham Festival went ahead with 250,000 spectators, while 3,000 Atletico Madrid football fans flew to Liverpool for a Champions League match, when Spanish restrictions would have stopped them going to a match at home. Image source, Geoff Bodman Image caption, Geoff Bodman at Twickenham with his wife in March 2020 and later in hospital with Covid Geoff Bodman, 59, was at both Twickenham and Cheltenham that spring and is sure he was infected with Covid at one of those events. Later that month he was put on a ventilator at a hospital in Cardiff, followed by two months in intensive care during which he suffered a stroke. "With hindsight, the government should have acted more decisively and put a block on things," he says. "It would have been disruptive for a lot of people, bu){kind=link}
Decisions made by Boris Johnson, his government and his team of scientists in the early days of the pandemic are to come under intense scrutiny as the second part of the Covid inquiry begins.
Until Christmas, the spotlight will be on key decisions made to try to control the spread of the virus, from lockdowns to border controls to face masks. But what is at stake for the ex-prime minister and his former team?
On 7 March 2020, England beat Wales in front of 82,000 in a Six Nations rugby match at Twickenham. Mr Johnson was in the crowd shaking hands with England captain Owen Farrell.
On the same day, newspaper front pages were full of one subject.
“Official: It’s an outbreak,” said the Sun. “Millions told: work at home to fight virus,” said the Daily Mail.