Top UK government scientists overlooked a proposal to ‘cocoon’ vulnerable elderly people and their carers during the first year of the pandemic, the Covid-19 inquiry has heard.
Epidemiologist Mark Woolhouse said cocooning, in which you “protect the people around the people you’re trying to protect”, was suggested by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies’ pandemic-modelling sub-group (SPI-M-O) in the early months of the pandemic.
By then, Woolhouse said, the government’s initial plan to ‘shield’ elderly people had already proved unsuccessful, with over-75s accounting for the majority of Covid-19-related deaths.
