Covid inquiry chair Baroness Hallett issued a chilling warning as the first report into the UK's preparedness for a pandemic was released on Thursday, 18 July. The damning 217-page report found the country “prepared for the wrong pandemic”, namely a flu pandemic, and the plan was "inadequate for a global pandemic of the kind that struck”. It also concluded that in the years leading up to the pandemic, “there was a lack of adequate leadership, co-ordination and oversight." In remarks after its publication, Baroness Hallett said the next pandemic in the UK will "bring with it immense suffering and huge financial cost."