Report in 2016 warned the United Kingdom government about a potential pandemic: Report

In a major blow to the UK government, a 2016 report revealed that the Public Health England commission had warned the government to gear up the health infrastructure to handle the pandemic like situation. According to a report by The Guardian, the documents compiled in 2016 had alerted the government about the "pathetic" condition of the health sector and suggested revamping it if any potential pandemic hit the country. Notably, at that time, Theresa Mary was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. However, the five-year-old report also added that the current Boris Johnson led government as it has also "failed" to tackle the deadly Covid pandemic during the initial phase.

According to news agency Sputnik, the audit report submitted by the Public Health England commission in February 2016 with code-named Exercise Alice. According to the Russian news agency, the 23-page report was commissioned by Dame Sally Davies, the-then chief medical officer. In the report, the observers had warned the government regarding the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS-CoV). Notably, the respiratory syndrome is similar to what the patients were facing during the deadly Coronavirus attack. It also has the potentiality to spread among the community without showing any symptoms like COVID-19. 

UK govt failed to grasp the potential of the 2016 report

The report highlighted the government's attention to boost medical infrastructure, like the procurement of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), contact tracing system and enhanced screening for foreign travellers. It is worth mentioning that the five-year-old report turned heavily on the current government as it too had failed to grasp the potential of the red flags raised by the observers.

During the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, the country had faced one of the worst health crises. The current government too failed to grasp the potential of the report resulting in an acute shortage of PPE kits during the peak days of the pandemic, also failing to understand the importance of quarantine and self-isolation that resulted in community spread. The UK government had allowed the entry of travellers from the COVID-19 hotspots such as China and Italy. 

Boris government had tried its best to cover up the report

Meanwhile, a report published in The Guardian alleged that the UK government had tried its best to cover up the report but failed to do so. "There was a general consensus on the need to identify capacity and capability of assets within the health system. Assets in this context would be all resources that would be required to effectively respond to a MERS-CoV outbreak such as trained personnel, appropriate PPE in sufficient quantities and the requisite beds with suitable clinical equipment," reported Sputnik quoting the Exercise Alice report.

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