COVID PUBLIC INQUIRY TO CONSIDER IF GOVERNMENT KNEW CORNWALL’S G7 SUMMIT WOULD BE A ‘SUPER SPREADER’ EVENT

The Covid-19 public inquiry will consider the advice given to the Government around the G7 summit in Cornwall in June 2021 after the county’s population was hit by a rise in infections of 2,450 per cent following the meeting of global leaders.

One senior Covid adviser, who has been asked to provide evidence to the inquiry chaired by Baroness Hallett, has told i that he has been questioned regarding the advice he and others provided to the Government ahead of its decision to allow the G7 Summit near St Ives to go ahead.

The official said: “Many issues around the pandemic will come up and among them will be the advice given to government around the impact on Covid infections of holding G7 summit in Cornwall in June 2021.”

Before the summit, many in Cornwall warned the G7 meeting of world leaders, which took place in Carbis Bay from 11 to 13 June 2021, would become a “super spreader” event.

The event was attended by the leaders including US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel, then Japanese premier Yoshihide Suga as well as Mr Johnson and other world leader of nations outside the G7.

Along with the leaders, their entourages, police, security staff, lobbyists and protestors, it is estimated that around 20,000 people attended the summit, with many staying in hotels in towns such as Newquay and Falmouth, as well as in Carbis Bay and nearby St Ives.

Many of those attending, such a police from around the UK, arrived at least a week before the summit, leading some to suggest the virus was allowed to spread, before, during and after the meeting.

The source added: “Witnesses, like myself, have been asked about the advice we provided, and I am sure government ministers, the then PM [Mr Johnson] and the then chancellor and current PM [Rishi Sunak] will be asked why that advice provided the Government with the confidence to give the summit the green light.”

It is understood that the issues surrounding the G7 summit could be referred to as early as Tuesday, when the inquiry is scheduled to hold a preliminary hearing for its “Module 2”, which focuses on political and administrative decision making around the pandemic.

The area around Carbis Bay and Falmouth, where the world’s media were based along with many of the 6,000 of officers policing the event, suffered some of the highest rates of infection in the country as the summit ended.

The rate of infection in St Ives and Halsetown rose 2,450 per cent to 733.2 per 100,000 people in the seven days to 13 June, when the summit came to an end. The national rate at the time was just 77.4 per 100,000.

In the council ward of St Ives East, Lelant & Carbis Bay the rate rose by 800 per cent to 294.9 per 100,000 people in the same period.

In several Falmouth council wards the rates were more than 500 per 100,000, with Falmouth East hit by a 2,000 per cent rise in infections to 600 per 100,000.

Within two weeks of the summit ending, some areas of Cornwall saw a 5,000 per cent rise in infections compared to the Sunday before the event took place.

Professor Tim Spector, who ran the country’s largest Covid-19 symptom study called ZOE, said at the time that he “can’t ignore” the effect of G7 on the dramatic rise in Covid-19 cases in the county.

Jayne Kirkham, a Labour member of Cornwall Council, said: “We did ask if the thousands of politicians, journalists, aides, etcetera, coming from overseas would go through the same testing and quarantine process as everyone else did at the time.

“We also asked to see the Government’s risk assessment for the events, but these were not disclosed.

“Afterwards, when Covid cases soared in the towns where the G7 had been, we asked for extra testing and vaccination capacity. We didn’t get that either.

“It felt like the main legacy the G7 left in Cornwall was a Covid spike.”

Andrew George, the former Liberal Democrat for St Ives who will fight to regain his seat from the Conservatives at the next election, added:

“The Conservatives’ attitude to Covid-security at the G7 was typical of their attitude to the management of the Covid pandemic. A good exemplar for the Inquiry.

“Did the Government ever make any serious attempt to undertake a covid risk assessment? And, even if it was undertaken, did those responsible for deciding whether or not to go ahead take heed or was this just another example of the Government’s cavalier disregard for public safety?

“They seemed to put the desire for favourable publicity and a few iconic shots for Mr Johnson with world leaders above concern for public safety.

“Those responsible and for the post G7 summit covid case management and assessment should be held to account for their decisions and actions.”

The Covid spike in Cornwall spread to neighbouring Devon, and two months after the G7 summit took place, both counties became the only area of the country to be placed under special measures, when residents were advised by the Government to return to wearing face masks in public places and to socially distance after Covid-related lockdown restrictions had been lifted elsewhere across the UK.

Then health minister Nadine Dorries wrote to MPs in the region explaining why the counties would become an “enhanced response area”.

While the Government insisted the special measures were not a lockdown, Ms Dorries told local leaders the move would involve “clearly outlining the continued risks of Covid-19 and the need to take personal action, such as the wearing of face masks and social distancing”.

A spokesman for the Covid-19 inquiry declined to comment.

2023-06-04T15:02:12Z dg43tfdfdgfd