The previous governments failed their citizens and may have cost lives with “fatal strategic flaws” and other shortcomings to prepare for the Covid pandemic, according to a bombshell report released on Thursday.
London and the rest of the country was left vulnerable after ministers and officials planned for a massive flu outbreak, rather than the deadly virus which hit with such devastating force.
The 217-page report stressed: “Had the UK been better prepared for and more resilient to the pandemic, some of the financial and human cost may have been avoided.”
Demanding ten major changes to better protect Britain, Covid Inquiry chairwoman Baroness Hallett said: “Never again can a disease be allowed to lead to so many deaths and so much suffering.”
More than 235,000 people had died with Covid in the UK by the end of 2023.
Recommendations covered how the Government should deal with a future pandemic, including the creation of an independent, statutory body responsible for system preparedness and response.
