The UK Government and the civil service "failed" the public due to "significant flaws" in preparing for the Covid-19 pandemic, a public inquiry has found.In its first report into preparedness for a pandemic, the UK Covid-19 Inquiry said there was a "damaging absence of focus" on the measures and infrastructure that would be needed to deal with a fast-spreading disease, even though a coronavirus outbreak at pandemic scale "was forseeable".

The UK Government and the civil service "failed" the public due to "significant flaws" in preparing for the Covid-19 pandemic, a public inquiry has found.In its first report into preparedness for a pandemic, the UK Covid-19 Inquiry said there was a "damaging absence of focus" on the measures and infrastructure that would be needed to deal with a fast-spreading disease, even though a coronavirus outbreak at pandemic scale "was forseeable".