Nike conference decision would be different with hindsight, says Sturgeon
About 25 people are believed to have been infected at the conference at a hotel in Edinburgh in February 2020.
Nicola Sturgeon has said with hindsight she would have taken a different decision around the disclosure of the coronavirus outbreak at a Nike conference early in the pandemic.
However, the former first minister said that advice not to alert the public about the outbreak at the Edinburgh conference was “not unreasonable”.
The UK Covid inquiry has already heard that the former chief medical officer (CMO), Dr Catherine Calderwood, had told the Scottish Government it should not be disclosed on grounds of patient confidentiality.
The Nike conference took place towards the end of February 2020 at the Hilton Carlton Hotel, with about 25 people later believed to have been infected with Covid-19.
Counsel to the UK Covid Inquiry, Jamie Dawson KC, asked the former first minister about this as she gave evidence on Thursday.
She rejected accusations of “secrecy” by her Government about its actions early in the pandemic.
In his evidence to the inquiry, epidemiologist Professor Mark Woolhouse criticised the Scottish Government over not disclosing cases stemming from the Nike conference and concerns around a rugby match at Murrayfield.
But the former first minister said: “I wouldn’t agree with that at all.”
She added: “The decisions that were taken on all of these things were not taken with the intention of being secretive or keeping the information away from the public.”
Discussing Dr Calderwood’s advice, she said: “I may take a different judgment but I don’t think her advice was unreasonable.”
She said there were 71 people at the conference and the decision not to disclose it publicly was a “fine” one.
Ms Sturgeon said: “A different clinician might have had a different risk appetite for patient confidentiality, and given different advice.
“That’s not to say that Dr Calderwood’s advice was wrong or unreasonable.”
Decisions were taken “in good faith in the best possible way”, Ms Sturgeon said.
She said, with hindsight, she would have “gone the other way” with the decision on the Nike conference but she did not believe the fact it was disclosed later undermined public messaging on the pandemic.
Ms Sturgeon also confirmed the first person to die in Scotland from coronavirus was a French national who had attended a rugby match.
Earlier, Lady Hallett’s inquiry was told by the current CMO, Sir Gregor Smith, that he disagreed with his predecessor’s advice around the confidentiality of the Nike conference.
Dr Calderwood resigned from her role in 2020 after it was revealed she had broken lockdown rules to visit a second home in Fife.
