Quiz of The Week: 9 - 15 October

The UK government’s handling of the pandemic came under fresh scrutiny this week following the publication of a damning report by MPs.

The report said that “big mistakes” in the response to Covid-19 led to many thousands of deaths that could have been avoided. “Groupthink” among ministers, scientific advisers and civil servants resulted in delays in introducing social distancing measures in the early weeks of the pandemic, in what the cross-party group described as “one of the most important public health failures the United Kingdom has ever experienced”.

In a further blow to fed-up Brits, shoppers are being warned to get their Christmas shopping done early or run the risk of finding items missing from shelves. Retailers are struggling to get goods into the country as lorry driver shortages contribute to a significant backlog of containers at Felixstowe, the UK’s main port.

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To find out how closely you’ve been paying attention to the latest developments in the pandemic, and other global events, put your knowledge to the test with our Quiz of The Week:

Need a reminder of some of the other headlines over the past seven days?

• A bow and arrow attack in Norway left five people dead and two others seriously injured. A 37-year-old Danish man who converted to Islam has been charged after admitting to carrying out what is thought to have been an “act of terror”.
• In a bid to ease post-Brexit border problems, the European Commission offered to scrap 80% of spot checks on foods coming into Northern Ireland from Britain. The offer came a day after the UK’s Brexit negotiator David Frost demanded a total end to the Northern Ireland Protocol.
• Prince William attacked tech billionaires for investing in space travel when “we need some of the world’s greatest brains and minds fixed on trying to repair this planet”.
• And pundits predicted that a far-right television pundit branded “the French Trump” could be the biggest threat to Emmanuel Macron in the country’s 2022 presidential election.