During Baroness Hallet's first report, chair of the probe warned the country 'prepared for the wrong pandemic, during the Covid 19 outbreak. She also claimed 'there were fatal strategic flaws' throughout.
READ MORE: Scientists pinpoint reason women are more at risk of long CovidThe UK Government's failure to prepare for a 'forseeable' pandemic led to mass death, 'untold misery' and 'economic turmoil', the Covid-19 Inquiry has concluded.
A major flaw, according to the inquiry, was the lack of 'a system that could be scaled up to test, trace and isolate' people. She acknowledged preparing for a pandemic costs money, but warned: 'The massive financial, economic and human cost of the Covid 19 pandemic is proof that, in the area of preparedness and resilience, money spent on systems for our protection is vital and will be vastly outweighed by the cost of not doing so.
In summary it found had the UK been better prepared some of the massive human and financial toll of Covid could have been avoided.Advertisement But, addressing the state's preparedness, she added: 'There must be radical reform. Never again can a disease be allowed to lead to so many deaths and so much suffering.'
Baroness Hallett added: 'I have no hesitation in concluding that the processes, planning and policy of the civil contingency structures across the UK failed the citizens of all four nations. She said the Government's sole pandemic strategy, from 2011, 'was outdated and lacked adaptability… and was beset by major flaws, which were there for everyone to see'.
The report identified how leaders failed to heed the lessons from Exercise Cygnus, a three-day training scenario involving nearly 1,000 Government officials to test the UK's response to a serious influenza pandemic. Baroness Hallett made a number of recommendations, including that a similar exercise is carried out every three years, publishing the outcome.
'If the reforms I recommend are implemented, the nation will be more resilient and better able to avoid the terrible losses and costs to society that the Covid-19 pandemic brought.
Health Labour NHS Matt Hancock
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