Children were forgotten by policymakers during Covid lockdowns because they rarely got seriously ill from the virus itself, a report has found.

Infants, children and teenagers endured numerous lockdowns during their most formative years, despite accounting for a diminutive proportion of Covid hospitalisations and deaths.

A group led by University College London (UCL) found that because the elderly and vulnerable were more likely to get sick and die, the development and well-being of children were deprioritised.

UCL scientists created a paper looking at the impact of the coronavirus global health emergency on children worldwide, specifically in England, Brazil and South Africa.

It found that politicians did not consider children and young people a “priority group” when English lockdowns were enforced. Large policy gaps were created as a result of the ad-hoc and ever-changing nature of the lockdowns, which the scientists say disproportionately affected children.

The impact of lockdowns on children and the knock-on effects are expected to feature heavily in the Covid inquiry which last week heard from ex-Prime Minister David Cameron and former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt.

This week Matt Hancock - the health secretary when Covid emerged - will give evidence, as will Nicola Sturgeon.