UK government wasn't 'fully prepared' for COVID-19 pandemic: NAO report

The United Kingdom government was not “fully prepared” for the “wide-ranging impacts” of the COVID-19 pandemic on the people, a new report has suggested. As per the report by National Audit Office, the government lacked “detailed plans for several aspects of its response to the pandemic. The report suggested that the government did have “detailed plans” on shielding, job support schemes and school disruption. 

According to the National Audit Office report, the UK government made preparations for an influenza pandemic or highly infectious disease like Ebola. The NAO in the report highlighted that the UK government did not have plans for a disease like the COVID-19 pandemic, which has a lower mortality rate than Ebola, however, it can have “widespread asymptomatic community transmission. The report suggested that the government had some mitigations in a place like a stockpile of personal protective equipment.

Implementation of lessons from previous simulation exercises

As per the report, lessons from “previous simulation exercises” that would have helped in preparing for the COVID-19 pandemic were not fully implemented. The government had “limited oversight” and pre-pandemic plans that were in place were inadequate. The report highlighted that the government took many lessons learned from simulation exercises like the government revised pandemic plans after Exercise Winter Willow and it prepared a draft Pandemic Influenza Bill after the Exercise Cygnus in 2016, however, the report mentioned that other lessons were "not fully implemented". 

'Significant benefits' of Brexit in response to COVID-19 

The report also found that the exit of the UK from the European Union had “significant benefits” in responding to the pandemic”. According to the government officials cited in the report, the preparations for Brexit increased the crisis capabilities of some departments, however, on the other hand, it “diverted resources from other risk and contingency planning.” The report suggested that the pandemic has highlighted the need of government to enhance the “end-to-end risk management process” so that they can deal with “interdependent and systemic risks.” The report concluded that “this pandemic has exposed a vulnerability to whole system emergencies - that is, emergencies that are so broad that they engage the entire system.”

Image: AP/Pixabay