Five years on Covid fallout still lingers

Life expectancy, homelessness and mental health were among areas where Britain fared poorly despite spending more than most

- By James Tapper

Britain performed worse than most other developed nations in its response to the Covid pandemic, according to an analysis of international data, five years on from the first lockdown.

The UK spent more than most other countries on economic help yet ended up with larger drops in life expectancy, more people too sick to work, huge levels of homelessness and mental health problems among young people.

Thousands gathered around the UK last Sunday to mark the fifth anniversary of the pandemic, yet the effects of Covid continue to affect the poorest more than others, health and civil society leaders warned.

"We haven't seen the bounceback that other countries have," said Siva Anandaciva, director of policy at the King's Fund thinktank. "When I look at the one big global indicator of how healthy we are, which is our life expectancy, we've gone backwards."

Hetan Shah, chief executive of the British Academy, said inequality was "the primary story of the pandemic". "You still find that people from poorer backgrounds are more likely to have been impacted," Shah said, adding that the rate of long Covid in the most deprived households is double that of the most wealthy.

"One of the dreadful things was that there was less money to invest in public services across the piece. The worry is that some of the trends we're seeing, unless there's active work to stop them, will continue."