Nearly 227,000 individuals in the UK died from COVID-19 between March 2020 and May 2023, when the World Health Organization declared the end of the "global health emergency," according to data.
The inquiry concluded that the UK government and its four devolved nations - England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland -"failed its citizens" by inadvertently preparing for the incorrect pandemic. It underscored the "fatal strategic flaws" in the government that rendered the United Kingdom "ill-prepared" to address "a catastrophic emergency."
The 270-page report identified a culture of "groupthink" within the government, which resulted in ministers failing to question the advice they were given. According to the report, groupthink undermined pandemic planning. Ministers were provided with scientific advice that was excessively narrowly focused and failed to account for the socio-economic consequences.
It asserted that ministers did not act sufficiently to question the information they were receiving, and the advisory groups were not established with sufficient autonomy or freedom to allow for the expression of dissenting opinions.
This resulted in the UK bracing for the "wrong kind of pandemic," the report stated.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has stated that his government is dedicated to implementing more effective protective measures and incorporating the lessons learned from the inquiry. Additional findings will be released through 2028.
