Government focused on no-deal preparation and did not foresee need for PPE, contact tracing or possible lockdowns
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The UK was unprepared for the Covid pandemic because the government was distracted by plans in anticipation of a no-deal Brexit, a senior Cabinet Office official has said.
Katharine Hammond, the former director of the civil contingencies secretariat in the Cabinet Office, agreed that lockdowns, serious social restrictions, shielding, the collapse of the economy and the need for financial support for individuals had not been considered “in any meaningful sense”.
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