COVID inquiry: What did we learn and what can we do better in future pandemics?

Masks, social distancing, lockdowns... how effective was the UK's response to the COVID-19 pandemic?

- Prof Paul Hunter

One of the hard lessons we learnt over the past four years is that public health relies on balancing the benefits and harms of any action we might take to reduce the impact of disease. The recent COVID inquiry reminded us of that. But balancing those benefits and harms is difficult when you're not sure what they may be.

Getting a clearer understanding of what works and what doesn't was one of the aims of the inquiry. So, what did we find out?

• What happened at the start of the pandemic?

In the early weeks of the pandemic, being a resident or member of staff in a care home carried some of the highest risks of death from COVID. The virus spread into care homes as elderly patients were discharged from hospitals to free up beds for COVID admissions.

Even before the pandemic, we knew that it was almost impossible to stop the spread of infections like norovirus and influenza once they were introduced into care homes. Even if we had been able to test all patients before transfer, we wouldn't have prevented the care home epidemic. Tests done while someone is incubating COVID are often negative until they become infectious.

• Did personal protective equipment work?