There’s no good history books even trying to untangle the hyperobject that was the COVID-19 pandemic[5], almost nobody trying to figure out where our sense-making failed to, ah, make sense, almost nobody trying to steer the ship[6].
A slight counter to this, several countries have done, or are doing, major enquiries into their response. A good first step would be to give praise and attention to these and lobby for their recommendations to be implemented.
The UK prepared for the wrong pandemic. The significant risk of an influenza pandemic had long been considered, written about and planned for. However, that preparedness was inadequate for a global pandemic of the kind that struck.
The institutions and structures responsible for emergency planning were labyrinthine in their complexity.
There were fatal strategic flaws underpinning the assessment of the risks faced by the UK, [...]
The UK government’s sole pandemic strategy, from 2011, was outdated and lacked adaptability. [...]
Emergency planning generally failed to account sufficiently for the pre-existing health and societal inequalities and deprivation in society. [...]
There was a failure to learn sufficiently from past civil emergency exercises and outbreaks of disease.
There was a damaging absence of focus on the measures, interventions and infrastructure required in the event of a pandemic – in particular, a system that could be scaled up to test, trace and isolate in the event of a pandemic. [...]
In the years leading up to the pandemic, there was a lack of adequate leadership, coordination and oversight. [...]
The provision of advice itself could be improved. Advisers and advisory groups did not have sufficient freedom and autonomy to express dissenting views and suffered from a lack of significant external oversight and challenge. The advice was often undermined by ‘groupthink’.
A slight counter to this, several countries have done, or are doing, major enquiries into their response. A good first step would be to give praise and attention to these and lobby for their recommendations to be implemented.
UK Module 1 on preparedness failures has been published and seems particularly relevant to your points. Excerpt from the executive summary:
Quick list of links to other countries reports that I haven’t looked into in as much detail but may be relevant: Sweden, Norway, Australia, New Zealand, Netherlands, France, Germany, Ireland, European Union (European Parliament COVI)