Planning for any future pandemics must include the impact on the economy, a former Stormont minister has said.

DUP MLA Diane Dodds, who served as economy minister from January 2020 to June 2021, also stressed the importance of data as she gave evidence to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry on Wednesday.

She said food security and connectivity, with just one flight a day into the region at one stage during the pandemic, were huge concerns.

“The impact on airports, the impact on communications and linkages for families and so on was very, very grave,” she told the inquiry in London.

“Those were really huge concerns and we had specific industries in Northern Ireland that we were also very concerned about, like aerospace.

“The impact on the aerospace industry in Northern Ireland of the pandemic was

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