The UK is gearing up for Exercise Pegasus 2025, its largest pandemic readiness test since COVID-19. Running from September to November, this full-scale simulation will challenge the country's response to a fast-moving respiratory outbreak.
Pegasus 2025: The UK’s biggest pandemic test since COVID-19
Five years after COVID-19 turned life upside down, the UK is preparing to run its most ambitious pandemic stress test in nearly a decade.
Exercise Pegasus 2025 is not a drill in the casual sense—it’s a full-scale, government-wide simulation designed to answer a critical question: If another pandemic hit tomorrow, would we be ready?
What is Exercise Pegasus?
Pegasus is a Tier 1 national exercise, the UK’s highest category for emergency simulations. It will run between September and November 2025, involving ministers, the Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms (COBR), and every level of the NHS.
The scenario? A fast-moving respiratory pandemic, challenging the country’s ability to contain an outbreak, keep health services running, and protect the public. It’s the first time since COVID that the UK has tested its pandemic response at this scale.
Who is involved?
The operation is being led by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) in partnership with NHS England and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). But it’s not just a health sector exercise.
All 38 Local Resilience Forums in England will take part.
Government departments, devolved nations, and local health systems will play their roles.
NHS leaders at national, regional, and local levels will be mobilised, including Chief Medical and Nursing Officers, Regional Directors, and National Clinical Directors.
Why now?
COVID-19 exposed gaps in the UK’s readiness—from shortages in PPE and ICU beds to delays in clear communication. While much has been done since, officials want to be sure that lessons are truly embedded in plans, people, and practice, not just left in reports.
Pegasus is also running alongside the development of a new Pandemic Response Plan, which will clearly set out:
Who makes which decisions, and when.
How the NHS and social care would respond to different types of pandemics.
How national, regional, and local systems integrate in a crisis.
What will Pegasus test?
The exercise has eight core objectives, but the key ones include:
Some of these will be tested in live-play phases, others in table-top simulations or preparatory exercises.
What’s different from past exercises?
Operation Cygnus in 2016 tested flu pandemic plans but did not factor in the global supply chain pressures or disinformation battles that came with COVID-19. Pegasus is designed for a 21st-century pandemic reality—one where:
Information spreads faster than the virus.
Public confidence can make or break containment efforts.
Global shortages and geopolitics can determine who gets critical supplies.
Why it matters to the public
While Pegasus may sound like an internal government drill, its outcomes could shape how the UK protects its people in the next major health emergency. This means:
In short, it’s about making sure the next pandemic doesn’t hit as hard as the last.
The big takeaway
Preparedness is not just about having a plan, it’s about practising the plan until it works under pressure. Exercise Pegasus 2025 is the UK’s chance to find weaknesses now, rather than during the next crisis.
If it succeeds, the country will have a stronger, faster, and more joined-up response for whatever comes next. If it fails, at least the failure happens in simulation, not in real life—and that is exactly the point.
Kyrgyzstan has signed a series of cooperation agreements with China and Belarus at the Fifth Forum of Regional Leaders of Shanghai Cooperation Organis...
A group of Azerbaijani civil society organisations has called for increased scrutiny of Swiss building materials giant Holcim, citing court rulings an...
The Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo is "outpacing containment efforts" amid conflict, weak disease surveillance and limited...
Kazakhstan has reiterated that no existing route can replace the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), which carries more than 80% of the country's crude...
Iran has strongly condemned U.S. threats to impose sanctions on and bomb Oman following reported talks between Muscat and Tehran on jointly overseeing...
The British government has unveiled 300,000 new work experience and training placements for young people after a major review warned that rising youth unemployment could leave more young people disconnected from work, education and training.
UK shop price inflation rose to 1.2% in May from 1.0% in April as retailers continued to face mounting cost pressures across supply chains, according to new industry data.
The UK is experiencing potentially record-breaking temperatures after forecasters confirmed some areas reached highs close to 34°C on Monday.
More than 2,000 people gathered in San Diego this week for funeral prayers honouring three men killed while trying to stop an attack at the Islamic Centre of San Diego, in what authorities are investigating as a suspected hate crime.
The U.S. and Iran have reportedly reached a preliminary 60-day ceasefire and nuclear talks deal, pending Donald Trump’s approval, Axios reports. Meanwhile, the GCC condemned Iran’s missile strike on a U.S. airbase in Kuwait, which Tehran said was retaliation for a U.S. strike near Bandar Abbas.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says ongoing conflict, funding pressures and international travel restrictions are complicating efforts to contain a fast-growing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Bolivia’s President Rodrigo Paz has taken steps towards potentially declaring a state of emergency as anti-government protests intensify in the early months of his administration.
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Kazakhstan on Wednesday for a three-day state visit focused on energy, transport and economic cooperation with one of Moscow’s closest regional partners.
Muslims around the world have marked Eid al-Adha with prayers, celebrations and acts of charity, though for many Palestinians the holiday unfolded amid conflict, restrictions and loss.
The Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo is "outpacing containment efforts" amid conflict, weak disease surveillance and limited access to healthcare, according to London-based pharmacist and health commentator Thorrun Govind.
Australia has launched legal action against U.S. chemicals giant 3M, seeking more than $1.4 billion over contamination linked to firefighting foam containing PFAS chemicals, widely known as “forever chemicals”.
The World Health Organisation has warned that the risk of a widening Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has escalated to “very high” at national level.
A luxury polar expedition vessel linked to a hantavirus outbreak has arrived in Rotterdam, where health authorities have placed the final 27 people on board into quarantine and have begun containment measures.
Medical teams are being rushed to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) following a fast-moving Ebola outbreak that has already caused dozens of suspected deaths and raised fears of wider regional spread.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment