By Karim El-Bar
LONDON (AA) - The UK’s high court on Wednesday ruled that the government broke the law by failing to protect over 20,000 elderly and care home residents who died from COVID-19 after they were discharged from hospitals to care homes during the pandemic.
The judges said this policy took place despite “growing awareness” of the risk of asymptomatic transmission during March 2020.
They added that despite this risk, there was no evidence that then Health Secretary Matt Hancock addressed the risk of transmission to care home residents.
The judges said government guidance should have obligated patients to isolate from others for two weeks to avoid the spread of COVID-19 in care homes. They added that these updates were not made until the middle of April 2020.
The judges said in the judgement: “The policy set out in each document was irrational in failing to advise that where an asymptomatic patient, other than one who had tested negative, was admitted to a care home, he or she should, so far as practicable, be kept apart from other residents for 14 days.”
Hancock’s spokesman attempted to shift the blame on Public Health England.
The spokesman said: “This court case comprehensively clears ministers of any wrongdoing and finds Mr Hancock acted reasonably on all counts. The court also found that PHE failed to tell ministers what they knew about asymptomatic transmission.
“Mr Hancock has frequently stated how he wished this had been brought to his attention earlier. Mr Hancock’s thoughts are with everyone who lost loved ones, and we must ensure that all the right lessons are learned.”
The case was originally brought by two women who lost their fathers in care homes to COVID-19. They argued that the government’s discharge policy caused a “shocking death toll.”
One of the women, Fay Harris, said: “It brings some comfort to know that the Government have been shown to act unlawfully.