Implementation committees set up amid Covid-19 spread

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has set up four new ministerial structures to coordinate, prioritise and respond to the coronavirus pandemic across government.

Focusing on health, public sector preparedness, economy and international response, the committees will feed into a new daily C-19 meeting, which will be chaired by the Prime Minister himself. This is alongside his chairing the regular UK COBR meetings.

The chairs of the implementation committees - the Chancellor, the Health Secretary, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and the Foreign Secretary - will attend the daily C-19 meeting. The implementation committees will then regularly meet with key representatives from the relevant sectors to inform their decision making.

The General Public Sector committee will look at preparedness across the rest of the public and critical national infrastructure, excluding the NHS, for this will fall under the remit of the Healthcare committee. Chaired by the Health Secretary, this group will focus on the preparedness of the NHS, notably ensuring capacity in the critical care system for those worst affected, the medical and social package of support for those to whom we will be providing the new shielding regime.