Thread by @PaulBrandITV

🚨 Dominic Cummings says the Health Secretary promised in March that people would be tested before being discharged into care homes. It didn’t happen.

“The protective shield was complete nonsense. Quite apart from putting a shield around them we sent people back to care homes”.

This is absolutely vital in writing the history books of this pandemic. As we demonstrated time and time again, it was patients discharged from hospital who often spread the virus through the care sector.

They weren’t routinely tested until mid April.

https://twitter.com/PaulBrandITV/status/1261365862474399745

Care homes repeatedly told us that they did not recognise claims that a “protective ring” was put around them. Dominic Cummings has just proven - if you take his evidence at face value - that it categorically was not. The significance of that statement is huge.

Cummings says No 10 was told by Department of Health that there was a plan for shielding care homes and testing everyone who left hospital. They didn’t realise the catastrophe that was unfolding until April. By then hundreds were dying every day in care homes.

“The view was that we had to free up beds in the NHS. So a) there was no alternative and b) we were told they were being tested”.

“It spread like wildfire... they didn’t have the PPE for it or testing for the staff”.

Huge admission that care was sacrificed to save the NHS.

“The issue was never properly assessed or discussed”.

“The decision was made without a serious plan to cope with the consequences”.

Absolutely damning on the decision to discharge patients. 30,000 died in care. First admission we’ve heard of government culpability.

Here’s my interview with Hancock on this issue from July.

At 16 mins:

“It’s a no-brainier isn’t it? You should test people coming out of a hospital into care homes?”

“What the science said at the time was that there wasn’t asymptomatic transmission”.

Note that the science didn’t say that. SAGE were discussing the possibility of asymptomatic transmission - which was a huge killer in care - from the outset of the pandemic.

It is difficult to see how Matt Hancock survives this. Cummings sniping about his competence is once thing. But claiming he lied about testing of care home residents - which potentially cost thousands of lives - could be terminal for his career.

Debbie, the care manager featured in the thread above, has just told me Matt Hancock must resign.

“Finally someone has admitted what we were telling you all along.”

NEW: Matt Hancock’s spokesperson says he “absolutely rejects” today’s claims from Dominic Cummings. Full statement 👇

WATCH: Care home manager Debbie, who we have featured throughout the pandemic, calls for the Health Secretary to quit.

“Matt Hancock needs to resign. There’s a lot of lives been lost and it could have been stopped.”

Can Matt Hancock stay as Health Secretary? Full analysis of today’s explosive revelations 👇

itv.com/news/2021-05-2…

After an extraordinary day, I’ll leave it to those who experienced the worst of this pandemic to tell us what they made of today’s accusations.

itv.com/news/2021-05-2…