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UK government failures led to Covid spreading ‘like wildfire’ in care homes, inquiry finds

Global Published 20 October 2026, 16:00 · archived 20 Oct 2026

Inquiry chair says failure to advise care homes to isolate people discharged from hospital was ‘significant oversight’• UK politics live – latest updatesThe care sector was “an afterthought” during the Covid-19 pandemic, and government failures caused the virus to spread “like wildfire” among vulnerable and elderly people, a public inquiry has found.Heather Hallett, who is leading the Covid-19 inquiry, said it was a “significant omission” that the government did not advise that patients discharged from hospitals into care homes should be isolated, causing the virus to spread rapidly among resi...

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