The top civil servant in the Department of Health has been questioned at the Covid-19 inquiry about why he and the UK’s most powerful official were discussing how the virus was like chickenpox as late as mid-March 2020.
Sir Christopher Wormald, who remains the permanent secretary in the department and appeared before the inquiry on Thursday, was shown a message between him and Lord Sedwill dated March 12 2020.
Then-cabinet secretary Lord Sedwill said: “I don’t think PM & Co have internalised yet the distinction between minimising mortality and not trying to stop most people getting it.
Indeed presumably like chickenpox we want people to get it and develop herd immunity before the next wave— Then-cabinet secretary Lord Sedwill
“Indeed presumably like chickenpox we want people to get it and develop herd immunity before the next wave.
“We just want them not to get it all at once and preferably when it’s warn (sic) and dry etc.”
Sir Christopher responded: “Exactly right. We make the point every meeting, they don’t quite get it.”
The exchange came a matter of days before the Government moved to introduce a lockdown, amid fears about the NHS being overwhelmed by the virus.
It also came on the same day that former top adviser Dominic Cummings had complained in a WhatsApp message that Lord Sedwill had been “babbling about chickenpox”, adding “god f****** help us”.
Giving evidence to the inquiry earlier this week, Mr Cummings claimed that Lord Sedwill had told Boris Johnson: “PM, you should go on TV and should explain that this is like the old days with chickenpox and people are going to have chickenpox parties. And the sooner a lot of people get this and get it over with the better sort of thing.”
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Mr Cummings responded to the evidence aired at the inquiry on Thursday.
He said: “The reason the Cabinet Secretary suggested to the PM on 12/3 to tell the country to hold chickenpox parties – and me/Ben Warner said ‘you must stop saying this’ – is the Permanent Secretary at DHSC, *in charge of ‘the plan’*, was telling him this was the f****** plan!!!
“Holy shit this is truly atrocious and explains so much.”
Sir Christopher, who was pressed by lead inquiry counsel Hugo Keith KC to explain the exchange, said that it was a reference to herd immunity but argued it was “reflecting the state of the scientific advice at that point”.
He said he had been “very, very loose in my reply” and that he had at the time been following the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) advice.
