The UK government failed to act on early warnings from pandemic simulations and was not "fully prepared" to respond to the "wide-ranging" impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Audit Office (NAO) said in a new report released on Friday
LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th November, 2021) The UK government failed to act on early warnings from pandemic simulations and was not "fully prepared" to respond to the "wide-ranging" impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Audit Office (NAO) said in a new report released on Friday.
"There were lessons from previous simulation exercises that were not fully implemented and would have helped prepare for a pandemic like COVID-19," the independent parliamentary public spending watchdog said.
According to its findings, the two simulations based around an influenza pandemic that were carried out by the government in 2007 and 2016 respectively - Winter Willow and Exercise Cygnus - had highlighted the "need for better coordinated plans" and "the difficulties of extensive home working."
"There was limited oversight and assurance of plans in place, and many pre-pandemic plans were not adequate," the NAO report added.
It also found that preparations for exiting the European Union had significant benefits in responding to the pandemic since it "enhanced the crisis capabilities of some departments," but on the other hand "diverted resources from other risk and contingency planning."
"The pandemic has highlighted the need to strengthen the government's end to end risk management process to ensure that it addresses all significant risks, including interdependent and systemic risks," the NAO report concluded.
According to government figures, the UK has one of the highest COVID-19 mortality rates in Europe, with more than 143,500 people dead and over 9,7 million coronavirus positive cases so far.
