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Planning for a pandemic was undermined by Downing Street's focus on getting ready for a no-deal Brexit, it has been claimed.

A government adviser has told the Sunday Times that preparations to leave the EU "sucked all the blood" out of efforts to ensure the UK could cope with a severe disease outbreak.

The anonymous source says this is despite a pandemic having been considered the most serious possible threat to the nation for many years.

It was once considered a top priority and was well-funded until austerity cuts were brought in after 2010, they say.

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(Image: PA)

“We were the envy of the world... but pandemic planning became a casualty of the austerity years when there were more pressing needs,” the source told the Sunday Times.

A damning investigation by the paper also alleges that training to prepare key workers for a public health emergency was put on hold for two years, while contingency planning focussed on the possibility of crashing out of the EU.

The government was reportedly warned three years ago that the NHS would be quickly overwhelmed in the event of a severe disease outbreak.

A major exercise testing the UK’s ability to deal with a pandemic - codenamed Cygnus - exposed “terrifying” failings in 2016.

(Image: Getty Images)

Ministers were told that hospitals would rapidly run out of intensive care beds, mortuaries would be overwhelmed and doctors would be forced to deny frail patients critical care.

A report on Cygnus’s findings highlighted problems delivering protective equipment such as masks and gowns to health workers, an issue which has been frequently raised by medics battling Covid-19.

It suggested that health bosses would have no choice but to “switch off” large parts of the NHS.

However, a list of recommendations to address these risks was never implemented.

(Image: ExpressStar)

It has been claimed that stockpiles of personal protective equipment (PPE) had dwindled and expired after they became a low priority during the years of Tory austerity.

Despite this, some 279,000 items of PPE were sent to China to help battle Covid-19.

On February 24, Downing Street admitted that 1,800 pairs of goggles, 43,000 disposable gloves, 37,500 medical gowns and 2,500 face masks had been sent following a request for help from Beijing.

It came just days before NHS bosses warned that health workers were facing a "nightmare" because of a lack of protective gear.

It comes as fears have been raised that some hospitals will run out of PPE such as gowns this weekend.

Britain's coronavirus death toll has soared to 15,538 after almost 900 more hospital fatalities were reported in 24 hours.

The UK is one of just five countries with more than 15,000 deaths, joining the US, Italy, Spain and France amid signs that the curve is flattening.