UK Covid-19 Inquiry, Modules 2, 2A, 2B, 2C: Core decision-making and political governance · 2025
Chapter 12: Public health communications
Chapter 12: Public health communications
159Introduction
¶12.1. During a civil emergency such as a pandemic, governments are faced with the need to provide the public with the right information about the emergency, at the right time and in the right way. This is not an easy task, particularly when the available information is complex and subject to significant change, as it was during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the effectiveness of public communications during a pandemic is of obvious and vital importance, not least in attempting to bring about behavioural change on the part of the public and ensuring compliance with government measures.
¶12.2. This chapter considers how governments communicated with the public. It examines the strategies adopted to help the public understand the restrictions being imposed and why they were being imposed. It also addresses whether communications were clear, accurate, trusted and accessible. Each of the four governments of the UK adopted a different approach. In this chapter, the Inquiry examines the main features of each approach, as well as efforts made to promote clarity of messaging around the UK.
Communications campaigns during the Covid-19 pandemic
¶12.3. There was a wide range of communications from public bodies during the pandemic. The Inquiry has focused on the most significant communications campaigns.1 INQ000252711_0021-0022 paras 93, 98, 100
Handwashing
¶12.4. At the outset of the pandemic, the principal focus of the campaigns in all four nations of the UK was on the importance of handwashing. In February 2020, officials from the Department of Health and Social Care and 10 Downing Street agreed that the Department of Health and Social Care would lead on development of a public information campaign.2 INQ000252711_0021 para 95 The resulting 'Protect Yourself and Others' campaign focused on preventing the spread of the virus through regular handwashing and by coughing or sneezing into tissues.3 INQ000093231; INQ000064706_0003
¶12.5. These core messages were also adopted by leaders of the devolved administrations. At a press conference on 2 March 2020, Mark Drakeford MS, First Minister of Wales from December 2018 to March 2024, used the slogan "Catch it, bin it, kill it and wash your hands."4 INQ000227479_0002 He added: "[Y]ou can help protect yourself and others by always carrying tissues, and using them to catch coughs or sneezes."5 INQ000227479_0002 On the same day,
160¶Robin Swann MLA (Minister of Health for Northern Ireland from January 2020 to October 2022 and from February to May 2024) encouraged handwashing in a statement to the Northern Ireland Assembly – a message that was repeated by Professor (later Sir) Michael McBride (Chief Medical Officer for Northern Ireland from September 2006) in an article published on 6 March 2020.6 INQ000103645_0002; INQ000371529_0002 Jeane Freeman MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport in the Scottish Government from June 2018 to May 2021, stated to the Scottish Parliament on 3 March 2020 that the "catch it, bin it, kill it message is important".7 INQ000357368_0002-0003 She explained that the public could help "greatly by actively and consciously using good respiratory and hand hygiene".8 INQ000357368_0002-0003
¶12.6. On 4 March 2020, the Department of Health and Social Care launched a second phase of the Protect Yourself and Others campaign, which focused on the importance of handwashing.9 'Public information campaign focuses on handwashing', Department of Health and Social Care, 4 March 2020 (https://www.gov. uk/government/news/public-information-campaign-focuses-on-handwashing; INQ000618208) This campaign was adopted in Wales, and handwashing was a core component of communications in Northern Ireland and Scotland.10 INQ000235212_0089 para 276(c); 'Wash your hands like your life depends on it', Department of Health, 19 May 2020 (https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/news/wash-your-hands-your-life-depends-it; INQ000371416); INQ000381512_0010 para 63; INQ000339033_0065 para 173 The launch of the campaign included a quotation from Matt Hancock MP, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care from July 2018 to June 2021, in which he noted: "Washing hands regularly is the single most important thing that an individual can do."11 'Public information campaign focuses on handwashing', Department of Health and Social Care, 4 March 2020 (https://www.gov. uk/government/news/public-information-campaign-focuses-on-handwashing; INQ000618208)
¶12.7. The focus on hand hygiene remained a key part of communications campaigns throughout 2020. At a meeting on 2 July 2020, the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) endorsed the principle that good hand hygiene might reduce acute respiratory infections by 16%.12 INQ000223279_0001 para 2; INQ000120537_0003
The 'Stay Home' campaign (March 2020)
¶12.8. Boris Johnson MP, Prime Minister from July 2019 to September 2022, ended his televised address on 23 March 2020 announcing the first UK-wide lockdown with a simple instruction to the public:
" I urge you at this moment of national emergency to stay at home, protect our NHS and save lives."13 INQ000086759_0004
¶12.9. This 'Stay Home' message was aimed at ensuring compliance with the lockdown across the UK and became the core message of communications campaigns across all four nations between 23 March and 11 May 2020.14 Lee Cain 31 October 2023 40/14-40/25; INQ000048984_0001 When the second lockdown came into force in England on 5 November 2020, the UK government again returned to the Stay Home messaging, returning its focus to the specific behavioural changes needed to reduce the reproduction number (R).15 INQ000075751_0002; INQ000089061_0003
161¶12.10. The Stay Home message was developed by Lee Cain (Director of Communications at 10 Downing Street from July 2019 to November 2020) and an external digital creative agency, with a small group of political advisers and with oversight from the Cabinet Office.16 INQ000252711_0022 paras 98, 100 Mr Cain – who was a special adviser and not in fact a member of the Government Communication Service – told the Inquiry that the focus on a simple message was about maximising compliance with the regulations and "not making the perfect the enemy of the good".17 Lee Cain 31 October 2023 43/23-44/6 He explained that the message was based on a "core mantra for strategic communication: Prioritisation – Simplification – Repetition".18 INQ000252711_0022 para 99
¶12.11. The Stay Home campaign benefited from the clarity and simplicity of the message and succeeded in its aim of seeking to ensure that as many people as possible complied with lockdown restrictions and minimised social contact. Polling indicated that it was seen and clearly understood by 94% of the public, which suggests that it was successful in promoting public understanding of the principal requirement of the regulations.19 INQ000252711_0022 para 99 Professor James Rubin, Professor of Psychology & Emerging Health Risks at King's College London and Chair of the Scientific Pandemic Insights Group on Behaviours (SPI-B) from February 2020 to June 2021, thought the slogan was "clever".20 INQ000250232_0097 para 22.14
¶12.12. The regulations that came into effect on 26 March 2020 included a non-exhaustive list of "reasonable excuses" to leave home.21 INQ000216925_0020-0021 para 84 Public Health England had already published guidance on 23 March explaining the main rules and exemptions.22 INQ000223510 The availability of this guidance on the UK government website (GOV.UK) was noted in the Prime Minister's 'letter to the nation' sent to every UK household on 28 March but was not otherwise promoted in the UK government's press conferences in March 2020.23 'PM letter to nation on coronavirus', Prime Minister's Office and Boris Johnson, 28 March 2020 (https://www.gov.uk/government/ publications/pm-letter-to-nation-on-coronavirus; INQ000182381). The UK government's press conferences were televised across the UK (INQ000340123_0016 para 62). Mr Cain said that trying to communicate all the nuances of the underlying guidance in the main campaign would have risked breaking down the overarching Stay Home message.24 Lee Cain 31 October 2023 43/23-44/6 This is understandable. However, there was a downside. With such heavy emphasis on the requirement to stay at home and so little emphasis on the exceptions to this requirement, the campaign created a risk that those who should have left home – for example, victims of domestic abuse needing help or seriously ill people needing medical attention for non-Covid-19 conditions – might have decided not to do so for fear of overburdening the NHS and putting lives at risk.
162¶This consequence of the Stay Home campaign should have been addressed earlier by the UK government.
" could lead some members of the public to delay seeking needed medical care for other urgent non-COVID related health problems such as cancer or cardiovascular disease".25 INQ000280647_0020 para 58
¶12.14. To try to mitigate this risk, NHS England launched its own messaging campaign on 25 April 2020 – 'Help Us Help You' – explicitly to encourage people to continue to seek diagnosis and treatment for non-Covid-19 conditions.26 INQ000280647_0020 para 59; see also INQ000205654 On 11 April 2020, the UK government also launched a communications campaign to highlight that those who were "at risk from abuse … can still leave home".27 INQ000086591_0004 While a positive step, this was, however, launched almost three weeks after the first lockdown was announced.
¶12.15. Concerns about overcompliance with the Stay Home message were also raised by the Treasury. Although the construction sector was able to continue working under the rules that underpinned the campaign, the Treasury's analysis showed that, by May 2020, 56% of the construction workforce was not working.28 INQ000088053_0003 Rishi Sunak MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer from February 2020 to July 2022, told the Inquiry that this was "a good example of the messaging being slightly lost".29 Rishi Sunak 11 December 2023 77/8-24
The use of behavioural science in messaging
¶12.16. 'Behavioural science' is an umbrella term which draws together a number of disciplines to better understand human behaviour, including psychology, anthropology, sociology, law and economics.30 INQ000250232_0024 para 4.1; INQ000286066_0009 para 4.4 It is important to the analysis of public health communications. As explained by Professor Rubin:
163" During a crisis, the most important outcomes from official messages are behavioural. Saving lives often depends on telling people what they should be doing … Behavioural science can help by explaining what features of a message make it more likely that people will listen to it, understand it, and engage with the behaviour."31 INQ000250232_0094 para 22.1
¶12.17. However, Professor Stephen Reicher, Professor of Psychology at the University of St Andrews and participant in SPI-B, told the Inquiry:
" [T]here was little involvement of people with direct expertise in human behaviour when it came to interactions with those in government who made the decisions."32 INQ000273800_0021 para 58
¶12.18. Professor Rubin said that this applied to SPI-B's contribution to public health communications:
" Aside from our involvement as individuals, I do not think the group itself had any particular involvement with specific campaigns."33 INQ000250232_0095 para 22.5
¶12.19. There will always be a balance between the level of detail included in a communications campaign and its overall effectiveness. The scale of change in behaviour asked of the public at this stage of the pandemic meant that a simpler, core message was used. However, had there been greater consultation in the development of the campaign – with the NHS, with behavioural science advisers and with those representing affected groups who were likely to need help – the UK government might have struck a better balance at an earlier stage between (on the one hand) the clarity and simplicity of messaging, and (on the other) the need for the public to have some regard to the detail of the restrictions and the exceptions. In future, more regard should be taken of behavioural science advice when developing communications campaigns.
Campaigns on exiting the first lockdown
¶12.20. Concerns about the lack of detail communicated in the UK government's messaging grew with subsequent campaigns. As each of the four nations exited the first lockdown in accordance with its own plan, the regulations and guidance became more complex, and messaging diverged. The communications approach nevertheless remained focused on the core philosophy of simple and repetitive messaging.
¶12.21. On 11 May 2020, the UK government launched Our Plan to Rebuild: The UK Government's COVID-19 Recovery Strategy, which set out three steps towards ending the first lockdown in England.34 Our Plan to Rebuild: The UK Government's COVID-19 Recovery Strategy, HM Government, May 2020 (https://www.gov.uk/ government/publications/our-plan-to-rebuild-the-uk-governments-covid-19-recovery-strategy; INQ000198892) This strategy is discussed further in Chapter 5: Exit from lockdown, in Volume I. On 10 May 2020, just prior to the publication of this strategy, the UK government changed its communications message to 'Stay Alert, Control the Virus, Save Lives' (the 'Stay Alert' campaign).35 'Prime Minister's statement on coronavirus (COVID-19)', Prime Minister's Office and Boris Johnson, 10 May 2020 (https://www.gov. uk/government/speeches/pm-address-to-the-nation-on-coronavirus-10-may-2020; INQ000065338_0007)
164¶Figure 40: 'Stay Home, Protect the NHS, Figure 41: 'Stay Alert, Control the Virus, Save Lives', 30 April 2020 Save Lives', 17 July 2020
¶Source: INQ000548397 (video still) Source: INQ000234406 (video still)
¶12.22. The Inquiry heard evidence from witnesses about the appropriateness of the Stay Alert message. Professor David Halpern, Chief Executive of the Behavioural Insights Team (formerly known as the 'Nudge Unit') from 2014, stated that the message:
" provokes fear and anxiety, but with no clear call to action, while at the same time implying that the rules of the game have just changed. Behaviourally, it is literally the worst possible combination."36 INQ000188738_0047 para 190. The political implications of the change in this message are considered in more detail in Chapter 5: Exit from lockdown, in Volume I.
¶12.23. SPI-B had provided general advice on messaging in April 2020 but was not specifically consulted about the slogan Stay Alert, Control the Virus, Save Lives.37 INQ000273388; INQ000236376_0019-0020 para 6.16 Professors Rubin and Reicher told the Inquiry that some participants in SPI-B thought the messaging of the Stay Alert campaign was "poor", that it "violated some of the basic communication principles we had advised on" and that "their advice had not been listened to".38 INQ000250232_0095 para 22.5; INQ000273800_0010-0011 para 30; see also INQ000236376_0019-0020 para 6.16
¶12.24. SPI-B subsequently prepared guidance as to how to prepare future messaging, but Professor Rubin was told by a member of the Government Communication Service that they did not think anyone would read it.39 INQ000250232_0096-0097 paras 22.9, 22.10 This reflected a broader issue of under-utilisation of SPI-B across the UK government and a lack of feedback to SPI-B and SAGE as to how, if at all, the UK government considered or implemented their advice (see Chapter 9: Scientific and technical advice, in this volume).
¶12.25. The Welsh Government did not adopt the Stay Alert campaign. The Welsh Cabinet agreed that, from 1 June 2020, messaging should change to 'Stay Local'.40 INQ000371209_ 0051 paras 167-168 It was also agreed in May 2020 that a distinctively Welsh campaign should be adopted to communicate the specific rules in Wales.41 INQ000327735_0112 para 445
165¶12.26. The 'Keep Wales Safe' ('Diogelu Cymru') campaign became an "umbrella brand" for Covid-19 messaging in Wales.42 INQ000327735_0113 para 450 This message was developed following focus group and polling research.43 INQ000327735_0113 para 449; Toby Mason 7 March 2024 86/11-17 It was also informed by behavioural science advice, with the Risk Communication and Behavioural Insights Group (a sub-group of the Welsh Government's Technical Advisory Group) contributing to its development.44 INQ000340123_0020 para 83 Between April and September 2021, the Keep Wales Safe (Diogelu Cymru) campaign had reached 99.73% of adults in Wales, and a poll in mid-August 2021 found that awareness of the message peaked at 81% of adults in Wales.45 INQ000282291_0014; INQ000327735_0115-0116 para 463 Toby Mason, Head of Strategic Communications in the Welsh Government from January 2014, said that 'awareness' – the extent to which the public recollects a particular campaign when asked – is an important measure and that 81% indicated a good awareness level.46 Toby Mason 7 March 2024 93/12-17 The Keep Wales Safe (Diogelu Cymru) campaign was advice-based and effective.
¶12.27. The Scottish Government also did not adopt the Stay Alert campaign, choosing instead to keep the Stay Home message in place.47 INQ000232742_0003 para 13 At a Covid-19 briefing on 11 May 2020, Nicola Sturgeon MSP (First Minister of Scotland from November 2014 to March 2023) criticised the UK government's Stay Alert message, saying: "I don't know what 'stay alert' means." She said:
" [G]iven the critical point we are at, it would be catastrophic for me to drop the 'stay at home' message, which is why I am not prepared to do it … particularly in favour of a message that is vague and imprecise."48 'Nicola Sturgeon leads chorus of disapproval over Johnson's "stay alert" message', The Guardian, 10 May 2020 (https://www. theguardian.com/world/2020/may/10/nicola-sturgeon-leads-criticism-of-uks-new-stay-alert-coronavirus-lockdown-advice; INQ000351048_0001)
¶12.28. The Scottish Government subsequently launched its 'FACTS' campaign on 19 June 2020. This campaign was designed to help the Scottish public understand five specific behaviours that would help reduce the risk from the virus.
166¶Figure 42: FACTS infographic, June 2020
¶Source: INQ000370317
¶12.29. The FACTS campaign was developed by the communications department of the Scottish Government, together with an external agency. It represented an attempt to create a memorable acronym, in the hope that it would be easy to remember and convey that there were a number of things that people could do to keep themselves safe. Professor Jason Leitch, National Clinical Director and Co-Director of the Directorate for Healthcare Quality and Improvement in the Scottish Government from January 2015, explained: "[I]t was felt we needed a compact way of reminding everyone about how they should behave as individuals."49 INQ000329366_0055 para 291; Jason Leitch 23 January 2024 74/14-76/15
¶12.30. Polling data and campaign evaluation suggest the Scottish public was generally compliant with FACTS and other guidance.50 INQ000329366_0055 paras 291-292 However, the FACTS campaign itself could have been better designed and more effective. The Scottish Government's analysis found that, in September 2020, most survey respondents who had seen or heard of the FACTS campaign could not exactly recall the last four elements of the acronym.51 The percentages of survey respondents who were able to say spontaneously exactly what each letter stood for (among those who had seen or heard the campaign): F: 61% / A: 35% / C: 37% / T: 41% / S: 40%; (INQ000222930_0030). A 2021 study found that only 1% of respondents could recall all five elements of the FACTS acronym, 42% recalled one element, and 38% recalled none. It concluded that the FACTS message contained too much ambiguity regarding the meaning of each letter in the acronym, was a mixture of old and new obligations and guidance, and that:
167" [T]here is room for improvement in future pandemic messaging ... FACTS was, perhaps, a clever acronym in search of a coherent message."52 INQ000274154_0079-0080 para 230; INQ000591908
¶12.31. The Northern Ireland Executive also rejected the Stay Alert messaging.53 INQ000083136_0002 Michelle O'Neill MLA, deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland from January 2020 to February 2022, reflected:
" [T]he messaging worked better in the early stages of the pandemic as it was clear and precise … The changes to the message in May 2020 – 'Stay alert, Control the virus, Save lives' – made the messaging less clear and more abstract."54 INQ000273783_0031 para 159
¶The Stay Home campaign was placed on all government channels in Northern Ireland from March 2020 and ran with the core message 'We all must do it to get through it', alongside the key actions people needed to take to protect themselves and others from the virus. In the initial stage, this was 'Stay at home, Keep your distance, Wash your hands'.55 INQ000381512_0010 para 63 By 28 May 2020, the campaign was estimated to have reached approximately 98% of the population in Northern Ireland at least once, with the average adult exposed to it 86 times.56 INQ000065637_0008 Throughout June and July 2020, this appears to have been supplemented with the 'two Ws and three Cs' campaign for social media, which encouraged people to:
-
¶
- Avoid crowded places.
- Avoid closed spaces with poor ventilation.
- Wash hands regularly for at least 20 seconds.
- Wear a face covering in indoor spaces.
- Avoid close contact settings, such as face-to-face conversations.57 INQ000259574_0017-0020
The focus on handwashing over ventilation
¶12.32. As 2020 progressed, it was increasingly understood that airborne transmission of Covid-19 was a substantial risk and, by 23 July 2020, SAGE had endorsed the importance of good ventilation.58 INQ000061556_0002 para 5 As this knowledge developed, a number of
168advisers to the UK government considered that there should be a greater emphasis on ventilation and fresh air in communications campaigns.59 INQ000236261_0062 para 11.16 For example, Professor Halpern told the Inquiry that the Behavioural Insights Team pushed for the incorporation of ventilation in messaging from the summer of 2020:
" Our trial and survey evidence was strongly suggesting that people did not understand, or were not aware of, the relatively large reduction in risk of transmission when meeting outside, or from opening windows inside. I tried and lost the argument to update the phrase 'hands face space' to include 'air'."60 INQ000188738_0029 para 129
¶12.33. On 9 September 2020, a new communications message – 'Hands, Face, Space' – was introduced by the Department of Health and Social Care.61 'New campaign to prevent spread of coronavirus indoors this winter', Department of Health and Social Care, 9 September 2020 (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-campaign-to-prevent-spread-of-coronavirus-indoors-this-winter; INQ000517396) However, it was not until 18 November 2020, with the aim of increasing awareness of the importance of ventilation, that the Hands, Face, Space message was accompanied by visual elements depicting Covid-19 vapours spreading throughout a room and illustrating the importance of opening windows to provide fresh air.62 'New film shows importance of ventilation to reduce spread of COVID-19', Department of Health and Social Care, 18 November 2020 (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-film-shows-importance-of-ventilation-to-reduce-spread-of-covid-19; INQ000573858_0001-0003) Dominic Cummings, Adviser to the Prime Minister from July 2019 to November 2020, said that he had pushed to add 'ventilate' to the Hands, Face, Space campaign in "Q3" (July to September 2020) without success.63 INQ000273872_0093 para 470 The campaign's slogan was amended to 'Hands, Face, Space, Fresh Air' on 29 March 2021.64 INQ000236261_0068-0069 para 12.11
¶Figure 43: 'Hands, Face, Space', Figure 44: 'Hands, Face, Space, Fresh Air', September 2020 March 2021
¶Source: Extract from 'New campaign to prevent spread of Source: Extract from 'Step 2 COVID-19 restrictions posters: 12 April coronavirus indoors this winter', Department of Health and 2021', Department of Health and Social Care, 12 April 2021 Social Care, 9 September 2020 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/step-2-covid-19- (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-campaign-to- restrictions-posters-12-april-2021 INQ000591902) prevent-spread-of-coronavirus-indoors-this-winter; INQ000517396)
¶12.34. Later, on 5 November 2021, an explanatory film, 'Stop COVID-19 Hanging Around', was launched to demonstrate the effect of ventilation on reducing Covid-19 levels.65 'New campaign to "Stop COVID-19 hanging around"', Department of Health and Social Care, 5 November 2021 (https://www.gov. uk/government/news/new-campaign-to-stop-covid-19-hanging-around; INQ000237348)
169¶12.35. The Welsh Government's Coronavirus Control Plan for Wales, published in August 2020, alerted the public to the importance of ventilation:
" to support prevention efforts and to support the management of new cases and clusters: … Ensure indoor spaces are well ventilated, with good passage of air."66 Coronavirus Control Plan for Wales, Welsh Government, August 2020, p28 (https://www.gov.wales/sites/default/files/publications/2020-08/coronavirus-control-plan-for-wales.pdf; INQ000066066)
¶12.37. In Scotland, at a meeting of the Scottish Government Covid-19 Advisory Group on 5 October 2020, a member of the group suggested that ventilation needed to be added to the list of key behaviours in the FACTS campaign.69 INQ000217915_0007 Advice was also provided to Ms Sturgeon in May 2021, which included a consideration of options for potential changes to restrictions that month. This advice recognised that ventilation was an essential behaviour and that it was not, at that stage, included in the FACTS campaign.70 INQ000379974_0047-0049 Although it was recognised that the UK government's Hands, Face, Space, Fresh Air campaign was also being run in Scotland, the FACTS campaign remained unchanged. It was not until the summer of 2021 that the Scottish Government's own public health communications began to emphasise the importance of fresh air and good ventilation.71 INQ000651574; INQ000651576
¶12.38. In November 2020, the Northern Ireland Executive launched the 'Don't Pass It On' campaign with the slogan 'Don't Spread Coronavirus: Limit Your Contact With Others'.72 INQ000381512_0011; INQ000259574_0060-0064 A television advertisement, made mostly in black and white, contained visuals showing blue Covid-19 vapours being expelled as people engaged in conversation.73 INQ000259574_0056, 0058 A voiceover stated:
170" You're in a room with friends. One of them has coronavirus. But which one? You can't see it. They might not have symptoms. But the virus is in the air. So now you could have it. You'll bring it home without knowing … So please, limit your contact with others. We all must do it to get through it."74 INQ000259574_0057
¶12.39. While this visual campaign highlighted the potential for respiratory droplet transmission, it failed sufficiently to emphasise the importance of ventilation in reducing the transmission of Covid-19, despite that issue having been recognised and highlighted in earlier messaging in June and July 2020.75 INQ000259574_0056-0064; INQ000259574_0017-0019 Moreover, the Northern Ireland Executive's core 'We all must do it to get through it' message (which consistently featured across all its campaigns) continued, at that time, to depict only three key actions: keeping a distance, wearing a face covering, washing hands.76 INQ000259574_0058
¶12.40. Handwashing was an important mitigation against transmission of Covid-19 and it was right that governments sought to promote it. However, government messaging in all four nations focused for too long on handwashing and failed adequately to communicate the risks associated with airborne transmission. As Mr Cummings told the Inquiry:
" Even in 2021, a year after the start, the government was over-stressing handwashing and under-stressing airborne transmission and the value of ventilation."77 INQ000273872_0093 para 470
¶12.41. Even if the exact extent of transmission by different routes was not clear, the risk of people mixing in poorly ventilated indoor environments was well understood by the time of the endorsement of the importance of good ventilation by SAGE, on 23 July 2020.78 INQ000119954_0001 para 5 Ventilation should have been incorporated prominently into government messaging in all four nations from this point. This was an important, missed opportunity in each nation to communicate clearly and prominently the importance of ventilation and the relatively lower risk of people meeting outside, at a time when restrictions on social contact had been eased across the UK.