Listening to Priti Patel claim the government has been "consistently ahead of the curve" on coronavirus and thinking about a Home Office drinks reception on 9 March, where her staff actually made fun of me for asking about the protocol for shaking hands https://twitter.com/Independent/status/1341310024216420352

Hard to remember that far back but the virus was already running rampant in London, I knew several people ill with it

Companies had started introducing hand sanitiser and shutting offices, things were getting serious and everyone knew it - especially the government

Ahead of the event, I sent an email asking "whether the government/civil service had made any adaptations relating to coronavirus that we should be following"

I was told there was "no official guidance on handshaking" and it was personal choice, and there would be hand sanitiser

So I went and avoided shaking hands, although I noticed that every single minister and senior civil servant, including the home secretary, were

When I introduced myself to one group of staff, the reply was "oh, you were the one who asked about handshakes!", and they laughed

The response appeared insane to me at the time, and obviously hasn't aged well

We now know that on 3 March - six days before the Home Office drinks, Sage said the government should “advise against greetings such as shaking hands and hugging"

“Promoting a replacement greeting or encouraging others to politely decline a proffered handshake may have benefit," it added

So why were civil servants advising journalists like myself that there was no protocol on handshaking almost a week later, as virus continued to worsen?

A clue may lie in the prime minister's response and general tone at the time

Also on 3 March, he told a press conference how while visiting a hospital treating Covid patients he “shook hands with everybody, you will be pleased to know, and I continue to shake hands”

It's not clear whether there was any formal advice to ministers and staff on the matter, or whether they followed the prime minister's lead on their own

Either way, this was not a government "ahead of the curve"