Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry
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covid19inquiry.scot
Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry
@covid19inquiry.scot
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The official Bluesky account for the Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry. Investigating aspects of the devolved strategic response to the pandemic.

https://www.covid19inquiry.scot/
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covid19inquiry.scot
Chief Executive of the Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry, @ianduddy.bsky.social provides an update on the work carried out by the Inquiry so far in 2025 and outlines key milestones for 2026.

Read the full Chief Executive's Update on our website: www.covid19inquiry.scot/news/chief-e...
October 23, 2025 at 3:41 PM
covid19inquiry.scot
Last week we completed hearings examining the use of lockdown and other measures.

We were privileged to host visits from @edinburghnapier.bsky.social and @heriotwattuni.bsky.social as they observed our expert panels.

You can watch the sessions back on our website: covid19inquiry.scot/hearings
Students from Heriot-Watt University standing with Ian Duddy, Chief Executive of the Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry Napier University students standing with Lord Brailsford, Chair of the Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry. They are in the Inquiry's hearing suite.
October 6, 2025 at 11:14 AM
covid19inquiry.scot
Through #LetsBeHeard, young students shared how the pandemic’s impact went beyond just online learning.

We heard how the entire student experience was affected – social connections, skills development and preparation for working life.

See what they said: www.covid19inquiry.scot/report/voice...
September 26, 2025 at 9:53 AM
covid19inquiry.scot
We will hear from:
🔵 Professor Nicole Busby - Professor in Human Rights, Equality and Justice, @uofglasgow.bsky.social
🔵 Professor @paulcairney.bsky.social - Professor of Politics and Public Policy, @stir.ac.uk

For more information please visit our website: covid19inquiry.scot
Professor Nicole Busby is Professor of Human Rights, Equality and Justice at the University of Glasgow. They have over 30 years of experience focused on EU law, labour law, equality law, and human rights. She holds a PhD in Law, with a specialism in EU and UK sex equality law. She has held key advisory roles and currently serves on the Scottish Government’s Human Rights Incorporation and Implementation Oversight Board. Professor Paul Cairney is Professor of Politics and Public Policy at the University of Stirling. He specialises in UK and Scottish Government policymaking, with a particular focus on public health and inequalities. He served as Special Advisor to the Scottish Parliament’s Finance and Public Administration Committee inquiry into effective government decision-making, and as an Expert Witness to the UK COVID-19 Inquiry, providing a written report and oral evidence on Scottish political governance.
September 19, 2025 at 10:11 AM
covid19inquiry.scot
We will hear from:
🔵 Professor James Wilson (@profwilson.bsky.social) - Professor of Philosophy at @ucl.ac.uk
🔵 Professor Michael Parker - Professor of Bioethics and Director of @ethoxcentre.bsky.social, @ox.ac.uk
Professor James Wilson is Professor of Philosophy at University College London, specialising in the ethical and philosophical dimensions of public health and public policy. He has served on the English National Data Guardian’s Panel of Advisers since 2016, contributing ethical guidance on health data, including during the pandemic. This included roles on the NHS COVID-19 App Ethics Advisory Board and as co-investigator on the UK Pandemic Ethics Accelerator. Professor Michael Parker is Professor of Bioethics and Director of the Ethox Centre at the University of Oxford, based in the Nuffield Department of Population Health. A leading voice in global health bioethics, he has extensive experience embedding ethics into large-scale scientific initiatives and advising on public health responses. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he served as the ethics expert on the UK’s SAGE group (2020–2022) and contributed to policy on digital contact tracing and event safety.
September 19, 2025 at 10:11 AM
covid19inquiry.scot
We will hear from:
🔵 Lord Jonathan Sumption - Author, historian, former senior judge who sat on the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom between 2012 and 2018
🔵 Professor David Miles - Professor of Financial Economics at Imperial Business School (@imperialcollegeldn.bsky.social)
Lord Jonathan Sumption is a former Justice of the UK Supreme Court (2012–2018) and previously practised in commercial and public law. A former history fellow at Magdalen College, Oxford, he has written extensively on European history. He delivered the 2019 BBC Reith Lectures on “Law and the Decline of Politics” and was a prominent commentator on the legal and ethical implications of non-pharmaceutical interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Professor David Miles CBE is Professor of Financial Economics at Imperial College London and a member of the Budget Responsibility Committee at the Office for Budget Responsibility. His work focuses on the interaction between financial markets and the wider economy. He has held senior roles in both academia and the private sector, and has led key UK government reviews on the mortgage market and government bond pricing.
September 19, 2025 at 10:11 AM
covid19inquiry.scot
🔵 Professor David Heymann - Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, @lshtm.bsky.social
🔵 Professor Clare Bambra (@profbambra.bsky.social) - Professor of Public Health, @newcastleuni.bsky.social

For more information and to attend these hearings, please visit our website: covid19inquiry.scot
Professor Heymann is a USA-trained medical doctor and medical epidemiologist. From 1989 to 2009, he held leadership roles at WHO, including establishing the emerging infectious diseases programme, leading the global SARS-CoV-1 response in 2003, overseeing polio eradication efforts, and serving as Assistant Director-General for Health Security. He later served as Chair of the UK Health Protection Agency and Public Health England. He has held his professorship at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine since 2009. Professor Clare Bambra is Professor of Public Health at Newcastle University’s Population Health Sciences Institute. A leading expert on health inequalities, she is an elected Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, the Academy of Social Sciences, the Faculty of Public Health, and Leopoldina. She serves as academic co-director of Health Equity North and is a member of the WHO scientific advisory group on health equity in Europe. Professor Bambra is an independent expert witness to Modules 1 and 10 of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry.
September 18, 2025 at 10:16 AM
covid19inquiry.scot
We will hear from:

🔵 Professor Sunetra Gupta - Professor of Theoretical Epidemiology, @biology.ox.ac.uk
🔵 Professor Mark Woolhouse - Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social
Professor Gupta specialises in the dynamics of viral, bacterial, and parasitic infectious diseases. With a strong track record in applying theoretical models to public health, she has been a prominent critic of nationwide lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic, instead advocating for a targeted strategy now referred to as 'State Supported Individual Risk Reduction'. Their perspectives have been widely published in mainstream media and presented in public forums, contributing to growing recognition of alternative approaches to pandemic response. Professor Woolhouse is Chair of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh and a member of the Usher Institute. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they served on the Scottish Government’s COVID-19 Advisory Group, the UK’s SPI-M-O, and the Scottish Government’s Standing Committee on Pandemic Preparedness. They have provided expert testimony to multiple parliamentary committees, the UK Covid-19 Inquiry and contributed extensively to media and public discourse.
September 18, 2025 at 10:16 AM
covid19inquiry.scot
We will hear from Dr Anders Tegnell, former State Epidemiologist of Sweden and Professor Sir Ashley Bloomfield, Former Director-General of Health and Chief Executive of the Ministry of Health, New Zealand.

@ashbloomfield.bsky.social
Anders Tegnell is former state epidemiologist in Sweden and now serves as a senior expert at the Public Health Agency. He is best known for leading Sweden’s public health strategy during the COVID-19 pandemic. With over 30 years of experience, Dr Tegnell’s career has seen him work on the frontline during the Ebola outbreak in Zaire. He has served in senior advisory roles for the European Commission and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Here he contributed to shaping EU-wide strategies for infectious disease prevention and control. Former Director-General of Health and Chief Executive of the Ministry of Health, New Zealand. From mid-2018 to mid-2022, Professor Sir Ashley Bloomfield was the Director-General of Health and Chief Executive of the Ministry of Health, New Zealand. He led the country’s health system and public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He is now a professor at the University of Auckland’s School of Population Health and Chief Executive at Public Health and Forensic Science.
September 17, 2025 at 10:02 AM
covid19inquiry.scot
Next week, we will hold hearings examining the use of lockdowns and other measures as tools available to governments in a public health emergency.

These will feature national and international experts. To attend in person, visit our website for details:

www.covid19inquiry.scot/news/inquiry...
September 16, 2025 at 3:08 PM
covid19inquiry.scot
How can we better support young people in future emergencies?

#LetsBeHeard gathered insights from more than 2,000 children and young people who were impacted by the pandemic in Scotland.

Read the full case study: www.covid19inquiry.scot/report/voice...
A speech bubble with a quote from a person, aged 11, who responded to Let's Be Heard. It says, "Provide help for children with worries and anxiety after the pandemic. I don't think I will ever be free from worries about bugs and infections."
September 16, 2025 at 12:49 PM
covid19inquiry.scot
How did the pandemic affect your child's development? Our latest case study gives us their perspectives.

More than 2,000 children and young people have shared the challenges they faced and the unexpected positives that arose.

Read what they had to say: www.covid19inquiry.scot/report/voice...
September 11, 2025 at 10:00 AM
covid19inquiry.scot
More than 2,000 children and young people shared how the pandemic impacted them. We listened.

This case study captures their real experiences in their own words.

Because your voice counts. Your experiences matter.
Read the full case study: www.covid19inquiry.scot/report/voice...
September 9, 2025 at 9:33 AM
covid19inquiry.scot
What would you want decision-makers to know about your experiences during the pandemic?

Children and young people told #LetsBeHeard about:

- Education

- Social development

- Home and family life

Find out the lessons they think should be learned: www.covid19inquiry.scot/report/voice...
September 3, 2025 at 3:17 PM
covid19inquiry.scot
'Just listen to us. Listen to us, please.'

Children and young people across Scotland have shared their experiences with #LetsBeHeard.

From missing school transitions to gaining independence, their experiences will inform how we prepare for the future:
www.covid19inquiry.scot/report/voice...
September 2, 2025 at 2:20 PM
covid19inquiry.scot
Over 2,000 young voices from across Scotland have shared their pandemic experiences with #LetsBeHeard.

Their insights will help ensure Scotland is better prepared in the future.

Read what they said: www.covid19inquiry.scot/report/voice...
September 1, 2025 at 12:06 PM
covid19inquiry.scot
Children and young people in Scotland have shared what they think will help shape the nation’s future pandemic preparedness through a case study published today by Let’s Be Heard, the Inquiry’s public participation project.

www.covid19inquiry.scot/news/inquiry...
August 21, 2025 at 11:59 AM
covid19inquiry.scot
The Inquiry has set out its plans for the rest of 2025 and into 2026, as it continues to investigate the devolved strategic response to the pandemic in Scotland.

Full details of the Inquiry's plans are available on our website:

www.covid19inquiry.scot/news/inquiry...
Next steps for 2025/26: Let’s Be Heard is analysing the experiences shared by more than 12,500 people across Scotland. They will publish a case study on children and young people’s experiences during the pandemic this summer. This year, the Inquiry will publish narrative records of its public impact hearings. In September, we will hold hearings on: lockdowns and other measures such as social distancing and travel restrictions. different approaches by other countries to limit the spread of COVID-19
July 3, 2025 at 11:06 AM
covid19inquiry.scot
In our latest video, @ianduddy.bsky.social, Chief Executive of the Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry, explains how evidence is gathered, used and finally archived by a public inquiry.

You can view all of the Inquiry's published evidence on our website: www.covid19inquiry.scot/evidence
June 24, 2025 at 10:02 AM
covid19inquiry.scot
Last week we completed our public impact hearings. During these, we heard from 364 witnesses and received more than 600 written statements related to the impact of the COVID-19 response in Scotland.

We thank everyone who shared and contributed to our investigations.
The Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry has completed its public impact hearings. Thank you to everyone who has shared their experiences and contributed to our investigations. We held 93 days of impact hearings since October 2023. We received more than 600 written statements. We heard from 364 witnesses. 100% of this evidence informs our investigations and recommendations.
June 23, 2025 at 10:04 AM
covid19inquiry.scot
Since these hearings began in October 2023, we have heard from 364 witnesses and received more than 600 written statements in relation to the impact of the COVID-19 response in Scotland.

We thank everyone who shared their experiences and contributed to our investigations.
June 20, 2025 at 2:40 PM
covid19inquiry.scot
More than 200 events across Scotland. 60+ partner organisations. 2,000+ experiences shared through community discussions.

#LetsBeHeard wouldn't have been so effective without your collaboration. Thank you for ensuring Scotland's diverse voices are heard.

www.covid19inquiry.scot/lets-be-heard
A map of Scotland with pins highlighting each town, city and local authority that Let's Be Heard visited during its engagement periods. The text reads, "200+ events across Scotland. 2,000+ experiences shared through community discussions. Over 60 partner organisations."
May 30, 2025 at 11:11 AM
covid19inquiry.scot
Revisiting the pandemic was difficult for many who shared their experiences with #LetsBeHeard over the past two years.

Your voices have been heard. Your experiences matter. The experiences you shared help Scotland be better prepared in future.

www.covid19inquiry.scot/lets-be-heard
“We understand how difficult it must have been for some respondents to revisit such a difficult period in their lives and would like to extend our sincere thanks to everyone who has taken the time to engage with us.” Dr Alexandra Anderson, Head of Let’s Be Heard
May 27, 2025 at 10:35 AM
covid19inquiry.scot
Your pandemic experiences are making a difference.

The #LetsBeHeard team is now analysing contributions from more than 12,500 people shared with the Inquiry to inform its investigations and recommendations.

Every voice helps Scotland be better prepared in future.
Over 12,500 experiences have been shared with Let's Be Heard, the Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry's public participation project.
May 26, 2025 at 8:45 AM
covid19inquiry.scot
Since launching in 2023, #LetsBeHeard, the COVID-19 Inquiry’s public participation project, has attended more than 200 events and heard from people in every local authority in Scotland.

Find out more about Let's Be Heard on our website: www.covid19inquiry.scot/lets-be-heard
A map of Scotland with pins showing each town, city and local authority that Let's Be Heard visited during its engagement periods.
May 24, 2025 at 8:54 AM