230,000 Deaths and the ‘Calculated Silence’ of the Medical Establishment About the COVID Inquiry

The Covid Inquiry Report is a devastating critique of the medical establishment which led the UK to the worst public health disaster in a century, argues Anthony Costello

Chris Whitty, Boris Johnson and Sir Patrick Vallance March 2020 Photo: PA Images/Alamy

The Covid Public Inquiry Report published on 20 November 2025 is a devastating critique of medical advisers, civil servants and politicians who led the UK to the worst public health disaster in a century. More than 230,000 deaths. A death rate five times higher than the East Asian states that took rapid action to suppress and control the virus. Three times more deaths than in the Blitz. The bereaved families need accountability. They won’t get any from the medical establishment.

Why did this happen? Why was the advice given to government from our Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and Chief Scientific Adviser (CSA) so wrong, and why was the culture and structure of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies so aberrant? (See below: Key events before the UK lockdown - ‘February 2020 was a lost month’ Baroness Hallett)

In short, they proposed a pandemic influenza strategy for the wrong virus. They refused to implement WHO advice about suppression of viral transmission. They did not press Ministers to rapidly develop a test, to expand a workforce to find contacts, or maintain isolation. They didn’t emphasise the importance of financial support to families asked to isolate. They supported a bizarre ‘herd immunity’ strategy that allowed a dangerous new virus to spread across the population. And their policies led to prolonged national lockdowns leading to the biggest fall in GDP for 300 years and economic damage that still affects us all. In May 2020, Jeremy Hunt, chair of the Parliamentary Health Select Committee reported that SAGE advice represented the “biggest failure of scientific advice to Ministers in a generation”.

Almost six years on, the medical and scientific leaders have been garlanded with knighthoods, the CSA promoted into Cabinet, and several awarded fellowships from the prestigious Royal Society. Yet the shocking criticisms of a lengthy public inquiry are being ignored. The same leaders have rejected key Inquiry findings and are not being held accountable. Why?