Failures and weaknesses in the UK’s response to the pandemic are expected to be laid bare in the first report to be published by the Covid-19 Inquiry Committee.
Baroness Hallett, who is chairing the hearing, is due to announce her findings over lunch.
Her report will cover the current state of the health care system, stockpiles of personal protective equipment (PPE), and plans that were in place.
It is the first of at least nine reports covering everything from political decision-making to vaccines and the impact on children.
Between This module’s hearing last year69 experts and politicians gave evidence, including former prime minister David Cameron, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Health Secretary Matt Hancock.
The investigation found that much of the UK’s preparations were based on plans for the influenza virus.
This meant placing too much reliance on vaccines and antiviral drugs that are ineffective against COVID-19 and acknowledging that there is only so much we can do to curb the spread of the new virus.
These countries were more effective at containing early waves of the coronavirus by deploying targeted testing, tracing and quarantine systems and establishing border controls.
This in turn has reduced the number of deaths and limited the use of lockdowns.
Another issue Ms Hallett is likely to raise is why the Government did not follow recommendations made when agencies ran “Exercise Alice” in 2016 to simulate a major MERS outbreak.
Very critical
Witnesses also criticised austerity and its impact on the NHS and public health systems.
And Sir Michael Marmot, professor of epidemiology at University College, said the UK went into the pandemic with “stretched” public services, weakening its ability to respond.
But George Osborne, who was chancellor of the exchequer from 2010 to 2016, told the inquiry that austerity meant the UK had the financial resources to deal with the pandemic.
The role of Brexit is also likely to be addressed.
Image source, piranha pictures
But former cabinet minister Michael Gove said the Brexit plan had increased staffing and brought departments closer together.
Former health secretary Matt Hancock said the same efforts had secured medical supply chains and prevented hospitals from running out of intensive care drugs.
Prof Adam Kucharski, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who has advised the government during the pandemic, told BBC News that preparedness was a crucial issue and the report’s findings needed to be acted on.
“We will face further pandemic threats in the future,” he said.
“We need to ask the question, ‘If a pandemic occurs next year, what is the appropriate response that we want to have, and what do we need to prepare now to ensure that that response is feasible?'”
“Make it in time”
Dr Saleha Ahsan, a military doctor by training who worked in hospitals during the first two waves of Covid-19 and is now part of the UK group for Covid-19 Bereaved Families Justice, said after she lost her father to the virus that doctors often struggled to get adequate personal protective equipment and it felt like there was “zero planning”.
“The first few weeks, the rules were changing almost daily and it was ridiculous,” she said.
“We were wearing the flimsiest of PPE: small surgical masks and white aprons.
“We were just scraping by and it was the health care workers who were pushed to the front line.”
“It’s really important for those who have lived through this crisis, those who have lost something to this crisis, those whose health has been affected by this crisis, to really understand where things went wrong and who was to blame.”
