The UK "might not have been very well prepared at all" for the devastating onslaught of Covid, the Inquiry into the pandemic has heard.
Hugo Keith KC, lead counsel for the investigation, said that the Government's planning claimed on March 3 2020 that the country was “well prepared” for the onslaught of the virus.
But in his opening arguments, Mr Keith said the nation was "taken by surprise" by many aspects of Covid, as planning had focused on a future flu pandemic, leaving the UK unprepared for mass testing or non-flu medicines.
Panic over the threat of a no-deal Brexit also may have "crowded out" the Government's pandemic planning, Mr Keith said.
Urgent and complex decisions like shielding, school closures, saving jobs and lockdown rules had barely been considered, he said.
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Mr Keith said it was "extraordinary" how little discussion was had in advance about whether a full lockdown might be needed - and how restrictions could be avoided.
He added: “It is apparent that we might not have been very well prepared at all.”
Deserted streets in London during 2020 (AFP via Getty Images)The Covid Inquiry is beginning its long-awaited evidence sessions today, with key players summoned to shine a light on the UK's handling of the pandemic.
More than three years on from the first lockdown, the Inquiry will carry out the first in-depth investigation into what happened during the Covid crisis, which led to some 227,000 deaths in the UK.
The first phase will look into how well prepared the UK was when Covid hit and decision-making by ministers in the years leading up to the arrival of the virus on Britain's shores.
Chairwoman Baroness Heather Hallett said she would demand answers to three key questions “on behalf of the millions who suffered and continue to suffer in different ways as a result of the pandemic”.
These are whether the UK was properly prepared, whether the response was appropriate and if lessons can be learned for the future.
She welcomed the "dignified vigil" of bereaved relatives outside the Inquiry HQ in west London and said she would always keep them at the heart of the investigation.
Baroness Hallett, the chair of the Covid Inquiry, said it was crucial to learn lessons from the pandemic (PA)The Inquiry opened with a devastating 17-minute film with testimonies from bereaved families, who spoke of the grief and loneliness endured during the pandemic.
Members of the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice campaign group also lined up outside holding pictures of loved ones.
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Top lawyer Mr Keith said the pandemic had "left in its wake death, misery and incalculable loss" - and changed lives on a "scale unseen in modern history" as he began his arguments.
Setting out the timetable leading up to the first lockdown, he said that on March 3 2020 the Department of Health and Social Care, along with the devolved governments, published a Covid-19 Action Plan.
People hold pictures of loved ones lost during the pandemic, outside the UK Covid-19 Inquiry (PA)He said: "Based on the experience of dealing with other infectious diseases and the influenza pandemic preparedness work that had been carried out, the plan stated that the United Kingdom was well prepared to respond in a way that offered substantial protection to the public."
But Mr Keith added: "Even at this stage before hearing the evidence, it is apparent that we might not have been very well prepared at all."
The UK was not prepared for a non-flu pandemic, he argued, with no plans for mass testing to identify a virus.
Instead the Government stopped community testing and focused on testing people in hospitals and protecting healthcare staff.
"There was no anti-viral medicine and no national pandemic flu service to prescribe it - for the simple reason that Covid-19 was not an influenza virus," he said.
Urgent and complex decisions like shielding, school closures, saving jobs and lockdown rules had barely been considered, he said.
Mr Keith said: "Few of those areas were anticipated, let alone considered in detail."
He said it was "extraordinary" how little discussion was had in advance about whether a full lockdown might be needed - and how restrictions could be avoided.
"Very little thought was given to how, if it proved to be necessary, how something as complex, difficult and damaging as a national lockdown could be put in place at all," he said.
Boris Johnson put the country into lockdown in March 2020 (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)"Equally, there appears to have been a failure to think through the potentially massive impact on education and on the economy in trying to control a runaway virus in this way."
Evidence indicates the "enormous" preparations for a possible no-deal Brexit in 2019 led to a "drain (in) resources and capacity" for emergency planning.
He said it is "clear" that preparing for the EU departure "crowded out and prevented some or perhaps a majority of the improvements" that the Government knew was necessary.
The Inquiry will then begin hearing testimonies from “core participants” later today, which include bereaved relatives, trade unions, Government departments and NHS bodies.
Hearings for module one are expected to last for six weeks.
The probe will look at several other areas over the next three years, including Government decision-making, vaccines, care homes and Covid procurement.
Interim reports are scheduled to be published before public hearings conclude by summer 2026.
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