Open letters

To: the infection prevention and control teams of NHS England, ARHAI Scotland, Public Health Wales and the Public Health Agency (Northern Ireland), and the Chief Nursing Officers and Chief Medical Officers of all of the UK nations. Copied to the Prime Minister and the First Ministers. Sent on 22^nd October 2026.

Signed by UK Covid-19 Inquiry Core Participants, clinicians and scientists, including Independent SAGE members Professor Sheena Cruickshank, Professor Trisha Greenhalgh, Professor Stephen Griffin, Professor Martin McKee, Professor Christina Pagel and Professor Kit Yates, and aerosol scientist Dr Adam Squires.

National infection control manuals say patients with respiratory symptoms cannot wear a respirator (FFP2 or FFP3 mask). They can be asked to remove it, or swap it for a surgical mask, while staff can now choose a respirator if treating a patient with respiratory symptoms. We asked all of the UK nations to:

• say plainly that patients and visitors may wear their own FFP2 or FFP3 mask;
• limit the rule to valved respirators and powered hoods, where breath bypasses the filter;
• publish the evidence behind the guidance;
• involve Clinically Vulnerable people in revising it, and keep guidance consistent across the UK.

To: The Rt Hon Yvette Cooper MP, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, and The Rt Hon Dame Angela Eagle DBE MP, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Sent on 3^rd September 2026.

Signed by twenty clinicians, scientists and specialists in air quality, occupational health and building design, including Professor Trisha Greenhalgh, Professor Sheena Cruickshank, Professor Lidia Morawska and Professor Robert McLeod.

After the first national Emergency Alert for wildfire risk, UK guidance warned that surgical masks may not protect against smoke, but never said what does. We asked the Government to update public guidance so that it:

• names indoor air filtration (HEPA, with activated carbon for gases) as a recommended measure during smoke and high pollution;
• says that close-fitting FFP2 or FFP3 respirators can protect people who must go outside;
• recognises more of the groups at higher risk, in line with international guidance;
• brings this advice together on one clearly signposted page.

To: the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) and the UK Government.

Co-signed by leading experts, scientists and clinicians.

We urged them to keep Covid vaccine access for all Clinically Vulnerable people, warning that narrowing eligibility “effectively excludes millions of Clinically Vulnerable people who are at higher risk of severe illness, hospitalisation, and sequelae, from essential protection.” We pointed out that NICE’s own antiviral guidance still recognises these groups as higher-risk, and that paying privately would leave many unprotected.