The 'Lost Month' That Cost Lives
Boris Johnson took four consecutive days off from official duties during a crucial period in Britain's Covid-19 preparation, while the NHS was warning it could become "overwhelmed" by the rapidly spreading virus. The startling revelations come from official government documents contained within the Boris Files, a cache of leaked materials obtained by transparency group Distributed Denial of Secrets.
Leisure Activities During Crisis Planning
According to official disclosure logs covering February 2020 - described by the Covid inquiry as a "lost month" in Britain's pandemic response - the then Prime Minister enjoyed an extended break during half-term holidays at Chevening, the governmental estate in Kent. The documents indicate Johnson conducted no official government business on February 15, 16, 17 and 21.
Instead of focusing on the emerging crisis, Johnson spent his time walking his jack russell dog Dilyn across Chevening's 3,500-acre grounds, riding a motorbike gifted by his now-wife Carrie, and hosting friends and family for meals and overnight stays. The activity logs show entries between February 14 and 24 make no reference to Johnson working on the Covid response, despite his later claims to the inquiry.
Critical Warnings Ignored
On February 21, as Johnson enjoyed motorcycle rides and walks around the estate, the British government received a crucial briefing about a new cluster of 16 cases in northern Italy, with seven patients in intensive care. The alarming development suggested the virus could no longer be contained through travel restrictions alone.
The same day, NHS England delivered an even more dire warning, noting that even with continued mitigation work, the health service could become "overwhelmed" before the virus peaked unless the government implemented "significant interventions to flatten the curve." Despite these urgent alerts, lockdown measures wouldn't be implemented in England for more than four weeks.
The official logs indicate Johnson didn't join any calls about the escalating European situation that day. Instead, they show he enjoyed a four-hour dinner with Catherine Humphrey, a friend of his wife who would later witness their wedding.
Minimal Work Amid Growing Crisis
The files reveal Johnson managed just two full days of work during his Chevening break, on February 19 and 20. On February 20, he held a 20-minute call with US President Donald Trump, during which Johnson claims they discussed the virus and its origins. This was followed by a three-hour dinner with former government officials Henry Newman, Simone Finn and Josh Grimstone, understood to be close friends of his wife.
On February 18, Johnson worked for merely 40 minutes, joining a call with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Johnson told the inquiry this call served to "compare notes" on Covid. Meanwhile, he missed a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee convened to discuss the pandemic, chaired by then Health Secretary Matt Hancock.
While Johnson entertained his late mother Charlotte Johnson and his now mother-in-law Josephine McAfee over lunch at Chevening, the government's chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty told the Cobra meeting the Covid outbreak could escalate to a global pandemic.
Devastating Consequences
The Covid inquiry, chaired by retired judge Heather Hallett, concluded the UK's response was "too little, too late" and found that implementing lockdown just one week earlier on March 16 could have saved more than 20,000 lives. The inquiry described February 2020 as a "lost month" and noted the pandemic response essentially halted during the half-term holidays.
The report found there were no cabinet meetings between February 14 and 25, and Johnson wasn't briefed "to any significant extent" on the virus during this period, receiving no daily updates. It concluded: "Mr Johnson should have appreciated sooner that this was an emergency that required prime ministerial leadership to inject urgency into the response."
Joe Hurst, spokesperson for Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK, described the revelations as "horrific" and said they provide "further evidence that he wasn't taking Covid seriously." He added: "It sounds like he has questions to answer about how truthful he was in front of the inquiry. This was gross misconduct in public office and a total abdication of his role."
The government eventually announced England's first lockdown on March 23, by which time confirmed UK cases had reached 6,726 with 336 deaths. Between March 2020 and May 2023, Covid was listed on the death certificates of approximately 227,000 people in Britain.
