UK did 'too little, too late', leading to thousands more Covid deaths, says inquiry

""all four governments failed to appreciate the scale of the threat or the urgency of response it demanded in the early part of 2020." Ministers were in part relying on "misleading assurances" that the UK was prepared, she said. Government scientists underestimated how quickly the virus was spreading and in the early days were advising restrictions should not be introduced until the spread of the virus was nearer its peak to help build up herd immunity, Lady Hallett added."

"The report also said lockdown may have been avoided if voluntary steps such as social distancing and isolating those with symptoms along with household members had been brought in earlier than 16 March 2020. By the time ministers acted it was too late and lockdown was inevitable, the report said, then a week-long delay introducing it led to 23,000 more deaths in England in the first wave than would have been seen otherwise."

Lockdown may have been avoided if voluntary social distancing and isolation of symptomatic individuals and household members had been implemented before 16 March 2020. By the time ministers acted, lockdown became inevitable and a one-week delay in introducing it increased first-wave deaths in England by about 23,000. All four governments failed to appreciate the scale of the threat or the urgency of response in early 2020. Ministers relied on misleading assurances that the UK was prepared. Government scientists underestimated how quickly the virus spread and advised delaying restrictions to build herd immunity. A chaotic culture existed in Downing Street, and political rule-breaking undermined public confidence, contributing to delayed tougher restrictions until November.

Read at www.bbc.com