[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-629045-105":59,"doc-detail-629045-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","the-unforgivable-covid-shortcomings-that-left-our-care-homes-defenceless","The Unforgivable Covid Shortcomings That Left Our Care Homes Defenceless","","News editorial condemning how COVID-19 emergency preparedness and decision-making failures left UK care homes defenceless in the early pandemic period. It cites Baroness Heather Hallett’s inquiry findings on neglect, lack of planning, inadequate protective measures, and confused, rushed responses that contributed to thousands of avoidable deaths and profound emotional harm. The piece contrasts official claims about a “protective ring” with allegations of falsehood, and urges immediate readiness for the next pandemic.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":35,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/healthcare/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-unforgivable-covid-shortcomings-that-left-our-care-homes-defenceless/629045/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/the-unforgivable-covid-shortcomings-that-left-our-care-homes-defenceless/629045.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"jay","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-27","2026-10-21",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":14},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What does the editorial argue caused care homes to be left defenceless during COVID-19?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"It argues governments failed to prepare properly for the emergency in early 2020, with poor ministerial decision-making and care-sector neglect treating homes as an “afterthought.”","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How does the article address Matt Hancock’s “protective ring” claim?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"It states the inquiry report calls the claim “unfounded,” adding that “the opposite is true,” while others describe it as a “lie.”",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What does Baroness Hallett’s inquiry suggest about preparation for the next pandemic?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"It emphasizes immediate action for “when” the next pandemic arrives, questioning whether NHS, care homes, schools, funding, equipment, and testing and vaccine programs will be ready.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},629045,1793142704,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":34,"category_name":35,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":14,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145,"preview_page_count":4},3985747858866,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_a8503ba1806abce46bf441b54a3ca4cd","WEDNESDAY 2 1 OCTOBER 2 0 2 6 WWW. INDEPENDENT. CO. UK  \nWednesday 21 October 2026  \nNews/Editorial  \nThe unforgivable Covid shortcomings that left our care homes defenceless  \nn her final report into what we might now call the  \nCovid-19 negligence scandal, Baroness Hallett, a retired senior judge, was as damning in her remarks as the laws of libel, good taste and the usual  \nconventions of a public inquiry allowed her to be.  \nSuccessive governments – not just the one headed by Boris  \nJohnson at the time the pandemic broke out – had failed at the  \nmost basic level to prepare properly for the emergency that  \neventually arrived at the start of 2020. Such shortcomings were  \nthen compounded by poor decision-making by ministers. The  \ncare sector, which by definition is full of the most vulnerable  \npeople, was unforgivably treated as an “afterthought”.  \nThis neglect was made all the more offensive by the entirely erroneous, cynical and now notorious claim made by then health secretary Matt Hancock that “right from the start we have tried to throw a protective ring around our care homes”. The baroness calls this “unfounded”, adding that “the opposite is true”. Others, including the Covid bereaved families’ organisation, call it a “lie”.  \nIn fact, as the report states, in the case of the half million people living in care homes, the lack of planning and consequent confused and rushed reaction to a rapidly mounting crisis led to the unnecessary and untimely deaths of an unquantifiable but  \nsurely substantial proportion of the 43,000 or so people in care  \nwho died between March 2020 and July 2022.  \nNot only that, but the bungled management of the outbreak resulted in “immense emotional harm” for residents, especially those with dementia, and left them with “profound isolation anda sense of abandonment”. The chaos in care homes left loved ones devastated when they couldn’t say goodbye to those coming to the end of their lives. Even for those left relatively unscathed by the emotional traumas ofthat time, it is impossible even now to listen to the first-hand accounts of people still trying to come to terms with what befell them without being moved.  \nOf course something as transmissible, debilitating and potentially deadly as the coronavirus was always going to inflict death and long-term disability (even now“long Covid” is too often forgotten). What Baroness Hallett and her team have proved is that it did not have to be as bad as it was.  \nThe list of failures is depressingly familiar. Even at the earliest stages ofthe outbreak, the limited evidence available from China clearly pointed to two fundamental features of the disease.  \nFirst, that it was highly contagious, even though the arguments about airborne transmission were not fully settled. Second, it was unusual in that it hit older people much harder than infantsand children – against the usual patterns in flu and the common cold.  \nAt that point it was surely obvious to the authorities – or should have been – that adult care homes should have been an immediate priority. They were not. They were an afterthought.  \nPatients were being discharged from hospital into care homes untested and without any effort to isolate them. Guidelines for visitors and care workers moving in, out and around homes were non-existent. As with the NHS and society as a whole, there was a shortage of personal protective equipment – much of the PPEin storage had disintegrated. So “some care workers were left having to wear waterproof ponchos from festivals, painters’overalls, or homemade PPE made from fabric, bin bags and bed linen”.  \nThose who persisted and put their lives on the line were denied adequate financial support if their wages were affected by the restrictions – again, something that could have been clearly foreseen. Where is the accountability for mistakes made by those in charge?  \nLooked at from a coldly rational point of view, the most important thing that Baroness Hallett leaves us with ","cbCaiopCWdZwvBMP","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiopCWdZwvBMP","pdf",12634019,117,"English","# News/Editorial\n## Covid-19 shortcomings and care home neglect\n## False claims and accountability\n## What must be done for the next pandemic\n# News\n## Inquiry findings on deaths and prioritising hospitals","[{\"question\":\"What does the editorial argue caused care homes to be left defenceless during COVID-19?\",\"answer\":\"It argues governments failed to prepare properly for the emergency in early 2020, with poor ministerial decision-making and care-sector neglect treating homes as an “afterthought.”\"},{\"question\":\"How does the article address Matt Hancock’s “protective ring” claim?\",\"answer\":\"It states the inquiry report calls the claim “unfounded,” adding that “the opposite is true,” while others describe it as a “lie.”\"},{\"question\":\"What does Baroness Hallett’s inquiry suggest about preparation for the next pandemic?\",\"answer\":\"It emphasizes immediate action for “when” the next pandemic arrives, questioning whether NHS, care homes, schools, funding, equipment, and testing and vaccine programs will be ready.\"}]","The Unforgivable Covid Shortcomings That Left Our Care Homes Defenceless | PDF",1792620902,295]