Covid-19 Inquiry: Module 7 hears asymptomatic spread of Covid not taken seriously enough

30 May 2025

The UK Government’s ‘Test, Trace and Isolate’ programmes cost £37bn in total budget. Credit: Ascannio / Shutterstock.

Earlier today (30 May 2025), public hearings concluded for Module 7 of the Covid-19 Inquiry, which investigated the different ‘Test, Trace and Isolate’ programmes used during the UK’s response to the pandemic.

Module 7 of the Inquiry heard from a range of experts and government representatives about the inadequacies of the UK’s efforts to curb the spread of Covid-19.

Particularly prominent throughout the hearings was the lack of seriousness placed on the risk of people spreading Covid-19 without symptoms, despite the fact that medical experts identified the asymptomatic spread of Covid-19 relatively early.

Consequently, a large numbers of cases went undetected and spread further because it was not possible to obtain a Covid test unless someone had symptoms, until far too late in the pandemic.

Module 7 began on 12 May 2025 and finished on 30 May.

Closing submissions

On behalf of the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice (CBFFJ), Garden Court North’s Pete Weatherby KC pointed to the failure to support people in isolation.

“There was far more focus on telling people what to do, and not enough priority on ensuring people were able to actually do it”, summarised Christian Weaver, another member of Garden Court North’s Covid Inquiry team on Module 7, alongside Kate Stone, Mira Hammad and Hamish McCallum.

On 19 May, Christian asked Professor Timothy Spector about the delay in marking loss of smell/taste as a criterion for testing and isolating, and whether or not it was “a blind spot undermining the government’s isolation efforts?” “Absolutely” was Professor Spector’s response.

Practical advice from professionals and academics was repeatedly overlooked, with many academics not even receiving a response from government, the Inquiry heard.

Far more trust was placed in private companies that were not public health experts. Many of the testing and tracing contracts were outsourced to organisations without adequate experience, leading to delays, confusion, and in many cases, poor value for money.

As argued by Pete throughout the Inquiry, this also raises serious issues about transparency and cronyism, as some of these organisations received huge sums of government money.

An underlying sense of the UK acting with bullish arrogance was also heard by the Inquiry, as the Government missed numerous opportunities to learn from or emulate the far more effective systems of nations such as South Korea and Germany.

The Covid-19 Inquiry’s ten modules are scheduled in an achronological order. Module 6 will begin on 30 June 2025, examining the care sector.

Garden Court North’s barristers and Alison Munroe KC at Garden Court Chambers were instructed by Nicola Brook from Broudie Jackson Canter.

Additional media

UK Covid-19 Inquiry – Covid-19 Inquiry Module 7 timetable

The Independent – Conservative decision to underfund Covid self-isolation support cost lives, inquiry hears

The Guardian – UK is no better prepared: key takeaways from Covid inquiry’s test, trace and isolation module

For further information, please contact Alex Blair, Communications Manager at Garden Court North Chambers: ablair@gcnchambers.co.uk