Boris Johnson ‘ignored advice on shaking hands’ at start of pandemic

Boris Johnson suggested the UK should ‘ignore’ coronavirus when it was spreading in China at the start of last year, a bombshell account of the Government’s handling of the pandemic has claimed.

The Prime Minister was said to have been wary of an overreaction to the disease, according to a behind-the-scenes report by the BBC. 

The report, based on conversations with a raft of senior figures, also claimed that Mr Johnson ignored advice on not shaking hands in the early stages of the pandemic. 

It claimed Mr Johnson had been prepared by aides to tell the nation to stop shaking hands at a briefing on March 3 last year. 

The PM was said to have been prepared to answer the question, should it have been asked by a journalist, but when the moment came he said the opposite. 

He said at the time: ‘I was at a hospital the other night where I think there were actually a few coronavirus patients and I shook hands with everybody and I continue to shake hands.’  

A Downing Street spokesman said in response to the handshaking claim: ‘The Prime Minister was very clear at the time he was taking a number of precautionary steps, including frequently washing his hands. 

‘Once the social distancing advice changed, the Prime Minister’s approach changed.’

The BBC report paints a picture of a complacent Government in the early stages of the pandemic.

One source said that at the end of January when the crisis was in its nascent stages there was a ‘lack of concern and energy’ and ‘the general view was it is just hysteria’.

Meanwhile, Mr Johnson is said to have been heard saying ‘the best thing would be to ignore it’ amid fears of an overreaction. 

The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman did not deny the claim during a briefing with journalists.

Asked about the alleged ‘ignore it’ comment, the spokesman said: ‘I would point back to what the Prime Minister said and set out at the time.

‘It has always been our focus to reduce the cases of transmission, to protect the NHS and to ultimately protect lives.

‘That’s what we did when we first locked down the country last year and that’s what we have sought to do throughout the pandemic.’

When it was pointed out he was not denying the claim, the spokesman said: ‘I’m pointing out that throughout the pandemic what we have done is do what we think was the best course of action in terms of protecting lives and in terms of protecting the NHS.

‘That has been our focus throughout the pandemic.’

The early stages of the pandemic saw a row break out over whether the Government had considered adopting a strategy of herd immunity. 

Sir Patrick Vallance, the Chief Scientific Adviser, said on March 13 that the ‘aim’ was to ‘try and reduce the peak – not suppress it completely, also because most people get a mild illness, to build up some degree of herd immunity whilst protecting the most vulnerable’. 

His comments sparked a furious backlash as the Government repeatedly denied herd immunity was ever official policy. 

But a senior figure told the BBC that ‘there was a genuine argument in government, which everyone has subsequently denied’ over whether to go for a hard lockdown or to protect the most vulnerable and target some degree of herd immunity. 

The broadcaster reported there was even talk in Whitehall of so-called ‘chicken pox parties’ so healthy people could meet to spread the disease. 

The Government has faced criticism for failing to impose the first lockdown sooner than March 23 last year.   

But the report suggested there was a sense of disbelief in some quarters of the Government at the time as ministers and officials scrambled to understand the disease.

One minister said they ‘couldn’t believe’ some of the measures they had to announce while one official recounted googling: ‘Did they shut the schools during the War?’

Ministers quoted in the BBC’s report said they believed Dominic Cummings’ lockdown trip to Durham was a turning point in the pandemic. 

One senior minister said the handling of the row which saw the PM’s now-ex chief adviser hold a press conference in the Number 10 rose garden was a ‘fiasco’.

One minister said the pandemic had ‘washed away all the bitterness of Brexit’ but when the story broke about Mr Cummings in May ‘that all came flooding back’ as the Government faced a furious backlash.    

The account also includes criticism of the Government’s reopening of the economy in the summer months last year and of its failure to act sooner to reimpose restrictions. 

One Cabinet minister told the BBC that ‘we knew there was going to be a second wave’ and yet there was a ‘totally ridiculous’ row over whether people should continue to work from home. 

One senior figure described the lifting of rules in the summer as ‘the biggest mistake’.  

Meanwhile, the delayed reimposition of restrictions in the autumn was the result of ‘swampiness’ resulting from ‘ideological pressure’, according to one person quoted.  

The account also provides an insight into the Government’s rapid approach to doing deals with vaccine manufacturers. 

One official said ministers had decided to ‘pay high, pay early, and ensure it works’. 

But others were concerned about how taxpayers would react if none of the jabs came to fruition given that the Treasury was spending billions of pounds on unproven projects.

The account also revealed that the various vaccines were given submarine-inspired codenames in a bid to preserve commercial confidentiality, with Pfizer’s called ‘Ambush’ and Astra-Zeneca’s called ‘Triumph’.