Government ignored warning to stockpile PPE as Covid-19 spread

Watchdog also confirms 25,000 hospital patients were sent to care homes before testing became routine

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The government’s plan to distribute personal protective equipment (PPE) during the coronavirus pandemic was undermined because officials failed to stockpile gowns and visors despite warnings to do so, Whitehall’s spending watchdog has revealed.

The report published on Friday by the National Audit Office (NAO) said this meant less than half of the expected pieces of certain equipment were handed out to frontline workers as the crisis developed.

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