Brexit preparations took staff away from pandemic planning, Northern Ireland’s chief medical officer has said.
Sir Michael McBride said the work of the Department of Health was also impacted by the lack of a Stormont Executive between 2017 and 2020.
His comments came at the UK Covid Inquiry which is examining how prepared the nation was ahead of the coronavirus pandemic which struck in early 2020. Sir Michael has been Northern Ireland’s chief medical officer since 2006.
