Covid Plans Were 'Woefully Deficient' Even For Flu Surge

Britain’s pandemic plans before Covid struck were not particularly helpful” and would have been woefully deficient” for even a flu pandemic, England’s chief medical officer has said.

- ARCHIE MITCHELL

Many have suggested that issues early in the pandemic were down to the fact that the UK’s pandemic preparedness plans were drawn up to deal with flu instead of a coronavirus.

Professor Sir Chris Whitty also told the Covid inquiry it was clear in early 2020 that the plan was not going to be particularly helpful in the crisis, having been drawn up by people who had just gone through the swine flu pandemic, which had a very low death rate.

He said there are some good “building blocks” within the document but many of these blocks had to be constructed “in a rush” in the early days of the pandemic. “I looked at the pandemic flu plan at the point when we were beginning to worry about this ... And it was pretty clear that it wasn’t going to give us any particular help, frankly,” he said.