What's happening?

Thousands of people died. Millions of people stayed at home. Children did not go to school. Adults did not go to work. No one could live life as normal.

It has now been more than three years since the start of the Covid-19The official scientific name for the type of coronavirus that swept the world from March 2020. pandemicAn outbreak of disease which occurs across a wide geographic area, as opposed to an epidemic, which is confined to a particular region.. Now an investigation has begun in the UK, called an inquiryAsking for information. Also used to refer to long official investigations. , into how Britain's leaders handled the disease. Could more lives have been saved?

The inquiry will cost hundreds of millions of pounds. It will not finish until 2026. The people leading it want to hear from ordinary people about how the pandemic changed their lives.

Sweden has already finished a report into Covid-19. In France and Italy, some politicians could even face a criminal investigation.

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Some say the inquiry will remind us that we need to prepare for a future pandemic. Some expertsSomeone who knows a lot about a particular subject. say that the UK is still not prepared for another disease to spread.

Some argue that Britain needs to spend more money on its health service so that hospitals and doctors will be better prepared if they suddenly have more people to treat again.

Even more worryingly, scientists think that it is not an issue of if, but of when. They think it is not impossible that there will be another pandemic in our lifetimes.

Yes! We are finding new cures for illnesses and ways to stop them from spreading every day. Every year brings us closer to a world without diseases like Covid-19.

No! Experts have warned that the world is still not prepared for a pandemic. Many countries have not changed since Covid-19 began.