Scottish COVID-19 inquiry|24 Sept 2025 (morning session)

Prof Anders Tegnell and Prof Sir Ashley Bloomfield.

Introduction

Speaking over the next 2 days is Professor Anders Tegnell Former State Epidemiologist of Sweden and Professor Sir Ashley Bloomfield (Former Director-General of Health, Chief Executive of the Ministry of Health, New Zealand) who was appointed a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2023 for his services to public health.

Professor Tegnell begins his testimony referring to the ‘COVID pandemic’ a ‘huge event’ and the worst public health crisis the last century! This goes completely unchallenged.

‘‘Public health has probably not seen anything like it for at least a hundred years.’’

Testimony highlights

• COVID regulations used in Sweden.

• Cancer and other NON COVID patients continually being seen in Sweden during ‘the pandemic.’ Thousands of cancer patients in Scotland were not so fortunate.

‘‘They can close down a restauraunt if they (public health) don’t feel they are following the rules and regulations in place.’’

‘‘Everytime you have a big gathering in Sweden you need to ask the police for permission to do that…the police did not give permission.’’

‘‘They managed both to take care of the COVID patients but also managed to give reasonable care to the rest of the patients.’’

-Prof Anders Tegnell

Schools

• Children not unsafe to be around. In Scotland the media promoted how young people could kill their grandparents by making them a cup of tea. 1

‘‘Some groups that FELT being at risk were NOT at risk..teachers for example..teachers were not at risk.’’

-Prof Anders Tegnell

New Zealand lockdown impacts

• ‘Pandemic’ caused disrpution right across society.

• Cancer care maintained. Unlike in Scotland.

‘‘Many non urgent medical or healthcare services were paused during the equivalent of lockdowns.’’

‘‘Some of the non urgent services and NOT just elective surgery..services that were essential to people’s wellbeing and recovery like speech language therapy, other allied health services were paused for periods of time.’’

‘‘One of the areas we were able to maintain even in very strict lockdown was cancer care.’’

-Professor Sir Ashley Bloomfield

Prof Tegnell on masks

• Can be useful ‘at certain times’.

• ‘Astronomical’ number of masks need to be ordered.

• Prof Tegnell still supports mask wearing.

‘‘I did a quick calculation, we talked about 1 BILLION masks a month in Sweden if you used them as you should.’’

‘‘We need to rethink our strategies in how to use them.’’

‘‘If you need to take a bus that’s already full, yeah sure.’’

-Prof Anders Tegnell

Bubbles (not the blowing kind!)

• NZ response policies.

‘‘The bubbles came into play during the severe lockdowns.’’

-Professor Sir Ashley Bloomfield

Statement highlights|A.Tegnell and A.Bloomfield

Some of this will likely be covered in upcoming sessions.

Anders Tegnell

‘‘Sweden’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic was distinct in its reliance on voluntary measures.’’

-2.1

‘‘In early 2020, the government enacted temporary emergency laws granting powers to limit public gatherings, close shops, etc…

..These expired 1 July 2020 without significant use.’’

-2.8

‘‘School closures were analysed and was to be used very restrictively due to the obvious negative effects.’’

-5.1

‘‘Restrictions were not imposed in schools or areas for physical exercises and outdoor places.’’

-7.2

‘‘The effects of lockdowns were to a great extent unknown, but could to a certain extent, be implied from historical experiences. For example, in Sweden there is a broad consensus that loneliness led to worsening of mental health.’’

-9.3

‘‘We followed data on ICU capacity closely and it was never overwhelmed.’’

-11.1

‘‘Retail was not closed but the number people allowed in was restricted according to the size of the store…venues were also restricted when it came to the number of visitors and sometimes closed if that meant that revenues were insufficient or running them became impractical. Gyms and sporting arenas were generally kept open.’’

‘‘Mask wearing was never mandated but recommended in crowded buses and trains for a short period in early 2021. Curfews were never used.’’

-14.3

How were issues related to misinformation and disinformation addressed?

‘‘We had a dedicated group following social media to keep track of false information. There was no attempt to rectify this but instead we made relevant information available in different ways to counteract the effects. The most obvious example was the safety of the vaccines which was questioned in social media. To counteract this, we performed together with our Nordic neighbours’ extensive research from the registers we all have. We could show and published some side effects, but they were very rare.’’

-18.1

Ashley Bloomfield statement;

‘‘New Zealand does not have an equivalent role to that of the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) in Scotland or England.’’

-1.11

‘‘New Zealand’s strategic response to the COVID-19 pandemic was based on an elimination approach until late 2021.’’

-2.1

‘‘Full population lockdowns when indicated, requiring most people to stay at home in a small ‘bubble’ and with very strict restrictions on movement.’’

-2.3

‘‘Government agencies worked closely with the aged care sector to minimise the risk of residents being exposed to COVID-19. Measures included use of masks and other PPE by staff (these facilities were prioritised for access to PPE); rigorous infection prevention and control processes; detailed entry and exit procedure; isolation and testing of new residents’; monitoring of staff members’ health and testing as appropriate; ‘no visitors’ policies during lockdowns; and minimising unnecessary physical contact.’’

-2.5

‘‘Other non-pharmaceutical measures were implemented to incentivise widespread uptake, protect vulnerable populations and support efforts to reduce other restrictions. These included vaccine mandates for certain groups, e.g. people working in the health care system, schoolteachers, defence force and emergency personnel. Some private sector businesses also implemented policies to require employees to be vaccinated to help to protect others and support business continuity.’’

-2.10

‘‘Vaccination certificates were also developed in October 2021, which people could access on the My COVID Record website…My Vaccine Pass was launched to allow fully vaccinated people to access places that required proof of vaccination status for entry under the traffic light system that underpinned the move to a suppression strategy.’’

-2.11

‘‘A range of measures to control transmission were contemplated as part of New Zealand’s pandemic planning.’’

-5.1

‘‘Notably, there was no mention of community-wide lockdowns, widespread use of masks, or mandates of any sort.’’

-5.3

‘‘There is strong evidence that the use of lockdowns as part of an elimination strategy in New Zealand substantially reduced deaths from COVID-19, prevented the health system from being overwhelmed, and helped to prevent the virus being introduced to many Pacific Islands Countries and Territories.’’

10.1

‘‘Aotearoa New Zealand experienced ‘negative’ excess mortality (fewer deaths than would have been expected in a ‘normal’ year) from early 2020 until early 2023.’’

10.4

Lockdown adverse effects;

‘‘During the most stringent lockdowns, people were unable to visit dying relatives and friends and face-to-face funerals were not permitted. This had a significant impact on individuals affected.’’

‘‘With access to hospitals restricted, many elective treatments were delayed and there is a still a COVID-19-related backlog of surgery in some specialties.’’

‘‘Routine preventive healthcare, including childhood vaccinations, screening and care of chronic conditions, was disrupted.’’

‘‘Disconnection from friends, family and social networks amplified social isolation, especially for people living alone.’’

‘‘There were disproportionate impacts on some communities and regions, in particular repeated lockdowns on Auckland had cumulative and multifaceted impacts encompassing economic, physical and mental health and wellbeing, educational outcomes and social cohesion.’’

10.10

15.3 A leading journalist concluded that the communications strategy during the first lockdown, including the meticulous design and use of the branding and messages, was:

‘‘A communications masterclass…‘‘TOTAL OBEDIENCE.’’

Communication to the public became more challenging as the pandemic progressed. Three key reasons for this were:

‘‘The big increase in misinformation and disinformation related to vaccines and the vaccination programme.’’

‘‘Concerns around the impact of restrictive and mandatory measures including lockdowns, vaccine and mask mandates, and disruptions to children’s education.’’

-15.5

‘‘A particular ‘flashpoint’ was a phrase used by the Prime Minister early in the pandemic, that people should rely on the 1pm briefings as a ‘single source of truth’.

-15.8

‘‘The vaccine itself was the subject of a concerted campaign of harmful, inaccurate information and became a cause célèbre for a relatively small group of people who opposed vaccines per se and, increasingly, any restrictions on freedom of movement and mandates.’’

-17.2

‘‘Mandatory use of masks and requirements for vaccine ‘passes’ in some places e.g. hospitality venues, were publicly contested by some people and businesses.’’

-17.3

‘‘A dedicated initiative - The Disinformation Project - was established with public funding tomonitor and undertake research to better understand the types and sources of COVID-19 mis- and dis-information that New Zealanders were being exposed to.’’

-18.1

Thoughts

I was suprised by the level of restrictions in place in Sweden and Anders Tegnell touted as a hero by some popular covid critics does not fit that definition to me. eg-The inhuman, brutal and human rights depriving policies revealled in grapic detail at the UK and Scottish COVID-19 inquiries were also in place within Swedish care homes.

• No ambulances.

• Withdrawn medical treatment.

• Prolonged isolation.

• No oxygen.

• Inappropriate end of life care.

‘‘A paramedic working in Stockholm, who wanted to remain anonymous, told the BBC she had not had a single call-out to an elderly care home connected to Covid-19, despite putting in overtime during the crisis.’’

‘‘National guidelines suggest that elderly patients, whether in state or privately run care homes, should not automatically be taken to hospital for treatment.’’

Source

The Swedish apporach is however proof the extreme totalitarian lockdowns and mask mandates (based on no credible science which did nothing to defeat ‘the virus’) yet were enforced in Scotland resulted in avoidable catastrophic consequences. Many of which are ongoing.

• Scotland = Full strict lockdown and mandatory masking.

• Sweden= No strict lockdown or mask mandates.

Despite officials claiming the elderly and vulnerable were ‘hit hardest by ‘COVID’ during lockdown the elderly and vulnerable have in fact stated in their own words that they were targeted with DNACPR notices by public ‘health’, human rights removed inclusive of article 3 of the ECHR; the prohibition of torture inhuman and degrading treatment. Mask policies also harmed every demographic particularly infants’ language development. Care home residents admit they were ‘imprisoned’ and subject to an ‘extreme form of punishment’ with policies in place worse than those experienced during world war 2. Families have also stated they believe loved ones may have been euthanised. The groups that died the most from ‘the virus’ were in reality hardest hit by the lockdown.

Of course this is all allowed to stand because there was a deadly pandemic and ‘‘mistakes were made.’’

Thanks for your attention.

All feedback welcome.

End