And Lee Cain, one of Johnson’s closest and longest-serving aides, said the pandemic was the 'wrong crisis' for Johnson's 'skill set', describing dither and delay.

The inquiry earlier heard the former PM was 'obsessed with older people accepting their fate and letting the young get on with life'.

The ex-aide was at the heart of Johnson's government during the early stages of pandemic, but the pair fell out and he was sacked in late 2020.

Cummings denied his use of language in describing a female senior civil servant was evidence he treated individuals with offence and misogyny.

He said the handling of the issue was a 'disaster' which he regretted.

The ex-aide was asked whether his car trip to Barnard Castle in Co Durham during lockdown let to a collapse in trust in the government's handling of the pandemic.

Dominic Cummings has been giving evidence to the Covid inquiry - three years after leaving No 10 as Boris Johnson's top adviser.

At Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis this week, nurses and surgical assistants held their iPhones over the operating table, guiding the surgeons with the flashlights as they snipped. In some hospitals, the lights have already switched off. United Nations agencies are distributing their remaining stocks. When Israel cut fuel to the territory’s sole power plant two weeks ago, Gaza’s rumbling generators kicked in to keep life-support equipment running in hospitals.Īuthorities are desperately scrounging up diesel to keep them going. “We are doing what we can to stabilize the patients, to control the situation,” he said. There are not enough antibiotics, so he gives single pills rather than multiple courses to patients suffering terrible bacterial infections. A shortage of orthopedic implants forced Abed to use screws that don’t fit his patients’ bones. A shortage of bandages forced medics to wrap clothes around large burns, which he said can cause infections. Now, he cleans wounds with a mixture of saline and the polluted water that trickles from taps because Israel cut off the water.Ī shortage of surgical supplies forced some staff to use sewing needles to stitch wounds, which Abed said can damage tissue. Abed used household vinegar from the corner store as disinfectant until the stores ran out, he said. If more aid doesn’t come in, I fear we’ll get to the point where going to a hospital will do more harm than good,” Mehdat Abbas, an official in the Hamas-run Health Ministry, said.Īcross the territory’s hospitals, ingenuity is being put to the test. Aid workers and doctors warned it was not nearly enough to address Gaza’s spiraling humanitarian crisis. Four trucks in the 20-truck aid convoy were carrying drugs and medical supplies, the World Health Organization said. The first food, water and medicine trickled into Gaza from Egypt on Saturday after being stalled on the border for days. “These people are all terrified, and so am I,” the surgeon said.

Some 10,000 Palestinians displaced by the bombing have also taken refuge in the hospital compound. The medical center is still treating hundreds of patients in defiance of an evacuation order the Israeli military gave Friday. “We have a shortage of everything, and we are dealing with very complex surgeries,” Abed, who works with Doctors Without Borders, told The Associated Press from Al Quds Hospital. WHYY thanks our sponsors - become a WHYY sponsor Israel’s offensive has devastated neighborhoods, shuttered five hospitals, killed thousands and wounded more people than its remaining health facilities can handle. 7 and killed over 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and abducted more than 200 others.

Israel began its bombing campaign after Hamas militants surged across the border on Oct. They are running out of basic items for easing pain and preventing infections. Hospitals in the Gaza Strip are nearing collapse under the Israeli blockade that cut power and deliveries of food and other necessities to the territory. Without enough medical supplies, Abed makes do with whatever he can find – clothes for bandages, vinegar for antiseptic, sewing needles for surgical ones. Nidal Abed works, he treats patients wherever he can - on the floor, in the corridors, in rooms crammed with 10 patients instead of two. When the Israeli bombing intensifies and the wounded swamp the Gaza City hospitals where Dr. The only thing worse than the screams of a patient undergoing surgery without enough anesthesia are the terror-stricken faces of those awaiting their turn, a 51-year-old orthopedic surgeon says.

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