While this may be the first report of many to come from an inquiry expected to last at least four years – it is perhaps the most important.
Of the catalog of failures, failures or missed opportunities that have occurred during the pandemic, many have resulted from the UK’s lack of a plan and resources to deal with an inevitable threat.
Perhaps The most striking conclusion from the inquiry’s president, Baroness Hallett is that in 2019 the United Kingdom considered itself one of the best prepared countries for a pandemic.
In 2010, David Cameron’s government created a National Security Council responsible for biological threats, such as pandemics.
Plans were made, exercises in Whitehall were carried out, stocks of medicines and PPE were established.
But what COVID taught us – through 230,000 deaths, two million more living with long COVID, families destroyed and around £370 billion in costs to taxpayers alone – is that the plans and preparations were woefully inadequate.
There is no doubt that COVID surprised scientists. Previous coronavirus outbreaks have been very different in terms of disease behavior.
The focus on pandemic flu plans is understandable – it was, and continues to be, one of the most serious pandemic threats we face.
But what this report concluded is that even the lessons learned from planning for the wrong pandemic could have improved the COVID response if they had been properly put into practice and shared outside of central government.
The fact, for example, that people with physical or learning disabilities, pre-existing illnesses, people belonging to ethnic minorities or living in disadvantaged areas would be disproportionately affected.
The fact that social care, especially care homes, would bear the brunt of the damage caused by a respiratory virus – and a huge increase in resources would be required in the event of a pandemic.
These issues, which were central to the loss of life and suffering caused between 2020 and 2022, were known. Just some of the “fatal strategic flaws” in assessing the risks to society before the pandemic, according to Baroness Hallett.
Their recommendations hope to ensure that we are significantly better prepared in the future.
Securing a single cabinet-level committee responsible for civil emergencies such as pandemics seems an obvious and sensible step and any strategy implemented is reviewed at least every three years, alongside pandemic rehearsals.
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But also, everything they learn or conclude must be reported on and shared with local authorities, voluntary and community organizations to ensure that Whitehall’s plans work where the harm is greatest – as cruelly demonstrated by COVID.
What the president of this inquiry wants to see – echoing calls from other recent inquiries such as the infected blood scandal – is for some mechanism to be established that requires government action.
The economic and political landscape is constantly changing, but so are deadly pathogens that mutate and spread in an increasingly connected world.
Implementing lessons learned from the COVID pandemic is not only necessary, it is urgent.
This story originally appeared on News.sky.com read the full story
