Restrictions Seven Days Earlier Could Have Saved Twenty-Three Thousand Fatalities, Coronavirus Investigation Finds
An harsh official report regarding the UK's handling to the Covid situation determined that the response were "too little, too late," noting that imposing a lockdown even seven days earlier would have prevented in excess of twenty thousand lives.
Main Conclusions from the Investigation
Detailed in exceeding seven hundred and fifty pages spanning two reports, the findings depict an unmistakable narrative showing hesitation, failure to act and an evident incapacity to absorb lessons.
The narrative about the onset of Covid-19 in early 2020 has been described as notably brutal, describing the month of February as "a wasted month."
Ministerial Shortcomings Noted
- It raises questions about the reasons why Boris Johnson failed to lead any meeting of the emergency emergency committee in that period.
- The response to the pandemic largely halted during the half-term holiday week.
- In the second week of March, the situation had become "nearly disastrous," due to no proper plan, no testing and consequently no understanding about the degree to which Covid had circulated.
Possible Outcome
Although recognizing that the move to implement restrictions was historic and hugely difficult, implementing other action to reduce the circulation of Covid sooner would have allowed that one might have been avoided, or been shorter.
By the time a lockdown became unavoidable, the report went on, had it been enforced on March 16, modelling indicated that might have reduced the number of lives lost across England during the initial wave of the virus by nearly 50%, representing over 20,000 fatalities avoided.
The omission to understand the magnitude of the risk, and the need for measures it demanded, meant that by the time the possibility of compulsory confinement was first discussed it proved too late and such measures were necessary.
Repeated Mistakes
The report further pointed out how a number of similar failures – responding with delay and downplaying the rate and impact of the virus's transmission – occurred again subsequently in 2020, when restrictions were eased only to be delayed reimposed due to infectious variants.
The report labels such repetition "unjustifiable," noting that the government were unable to improve over repeated phases.
Total Impact
Britain endured one of the most severe pandemic crises across Europe, recording around 240 thousand pandemic fatalities.
The inquiry represents the second by the public review regarding each part of the response and management to the coronavirus, that began two years ago and is expected to run until 2027.
