Challenged by MPs as to why it took two months to set up the test and trace system, Cumming said: “In lots of ways the whole core of government fundamentally fell apart,” when the prime minister went into hospital in April. Cummings said during that time, Health Secretary Matt Hancock decided to push ahead with his own test and trace system. “In my opinion, disastrously, the Secretary of State had made, while the prime minister was on his near deathbed, this pledge to do 100,000 [tests per day] by the end of April. Now, this was really an incredibly stupid thing to do because we'd alrea...