UK Covid-19 Inquiry: findings and what happened next
The UK's preparedness for and response to the Covid-19 pandemic, examined in a series of modules.
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Type
- public inquiry
- Chaired by
- Baroness Heather Hallett
- Report published
- 18 July 2024
Implementation, as of 27 October 2026The inquiry continues to publish module reports, and the UK government reported 2 of 10 Module 1 recommendations closed as of July 2025.
What the inquiry found
- The Module 1 report found the UK was "ill prepared for dealing with a catastrophic emergency" and had prepared for the wrong pandemic, focusing on influenza.3
- The Module 2 report found the response of the four governments was "too little, too late" and described February 2020 as a lost month.2
- The Module 2 report estimated that a lockdown one week before 23 March 2020 would have meant about 23,000 fewer deaths in England in the first wave to 1 July 2020.2
- The Module 2 report described a "toxic and chaotic culture" at the heart of the UK government during the pandemic.2
Key recommendations
- Module 1 made 10 recommendations on resilience and preparedness.4
- Module 2 made 19 recommendations, including on SAGE, emergency decision making structures and parliamentary scrutiny of emergency powers.2
- Further reports were published for Module 3 (healthcare, 19 March 2026), Module 4 (vaccines and therapeutics, 16 April 2026) and Module 5 (procurement, 14 July 2026).1
What happened next
- Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden committed to a national resilience review, a Cabinet Committee on resilience and a full response within six months.3
- The UK government published its response to the Module 1 report, declining a new statutory body proposed in Recommendation 10.4
- The UK government's implementation update marked 2 of the 10 Module 1 recommendations as closed.4
Read the report: covid19.public-inquiry.uk/reports/
Sources
- UK Covid-19 Inquiry, Reports (27 October 2026)
- UK Covid-19 Inquiry, Module 2 Report, Chair's Statement (20 November 2025)
- UK Government (GOV.UK), Covid-19 Inquiry Module One, oral statement (23 July 2024)
- UK Government (GOV.UK), UK Government UK Covid-19 Inquiry Response, Module 1 implementation update (8 July 2025)