The UK’s response to Covid was “too little, too late”, a damning official report on the handling of the pandemic has concluded, saying the introduction of a lockdown even a week earlier than happened could have saved more than 20,000 lives.
The 750-page document contains criticism of what it describes as “toxic and chaotic” culture inside Boris Johnson’s Downing Street – which it said the then PM, actively embraced – in which loudest voices held sway and women were sidelined.
Their findings were particularly brutal about start of pandemic in early 2020, describing February as “a lost month questioning why Johnson did not chair a single Cobra emergency meeting and noting that the Covid response basically stalled over the half term week, when the Covid crisis in Italy “should have prompted urgent planning across the four nations”
If lockdown had been imposed a week earlier than March 16, it could’ve cut number of deaths in England by almost half said the report while it adds that many of the same mistakes – reacting too slowly and underestimating speed and impact of Covid’s spread – were then “inexcusably” repeated later in 2020.
Lockdown it added could have been avoided if steps such as social distancing and isolating those with symptoms – and their households – had been introduced earlier and added that Lockdown has left lasting scars on society and worsened existing inequalities
Government scientists it says misjudged how fast the virus was spreading in the early stages
Nicola Sturgeon also comes in for criticism saying she misled the public by insisting her plan to eliminate coronavirus in Scotland was achievable
Most children were not at risk of serious direct harm from Covid-19 and Ministers failed to properly assess the impact of shutting schools and the report adds that Children “were not always prioritised” and the Government was not prepared for the “sudden and enormous task” of educating children at home
Boris Johnson relied on his own optimism and accepted repeated assurances from Matt Hancock, who the report says had a reputation for “overpromising and underdelivering”
There was also criticism of Sir Christopher Wormald – now running the Civil Service for Keir Starmer who it said presided over “misleading assurances” about the UK being prepared when he was in charge of the Department for Health
After the 23 March lockdown it says errors were repeated, including what the report called an “unwise” exit from restrictions in the summer, pushed partly by Rishi Sunak
Dominic Cummings also comes in for criticism described as “a destabilising influence” during a time of crisis who had “poisoned the atmosphere in 10 Downing Street and undermined the authority of the Prime Minister”
The chair of the report Baroness Hallett is calling for the prompt and thorough implementation of nineteen key recommendations.
