Professor Sir Peter Horby, Director of the Pandemic Sciences Institute, University of Oxford, comments on the UK Covid-19 Inquiry Module 2 report:
“The Module 2 report notes the important contribution that scientific intelligence and public health measures made in preventing even greater harm during the Covid-19 pandemic. It also sets out clear areas where the UK must improve. One lesson is unmistakable: speed matters, and speed depends on reliable, timely, and comprehensive intelligence about what is happening on the ground.
Acting quickly and proportionately requires real-time surveillance, integrated data systems, and rapid analysis, supported by advisory structures that can bring the right diverse expertise together at pace. We’ve seen that these capabilities cannot be improvised in the midst of a crisis; they must be built, tested, and maintained between emergencies.
The scientific and public health communities worked under intense pressure, and their efforts mitigated what could have been an even more severe impact. But the report makes clear that faster and more confident decision making could have saved lives and livelihoods. Building these capabilities requires deep and sustained collaboration across government, public health agencies, academia and industry. The Pandemic Sciences Institute will continue to support this effort by helping to develop the scientific and operational foundations needed for an effective national response.
While Module 2 focuses on the UK’s internal decision making, the issues it highlights – the need for better intelligence, faster detection and coordinated action – are equally relevant at the global level. Pandemics are inherently international issues, and even the best-prepared national system will be affected by events elsewhere. Strengthening international surveillance networks, improving data sharing, and supporting countries with fewer resources to detect and contain emerging threats, is essential for global security, and for the health and wellbeing of people everywhere.
Our focus now must be on developing the scientific, operational and international capabilities that allow us to detect threats early, and act confidently at speed whenever and wherever the next emergency arises.”