LONDON: Britain’s initial response to the Covid-19 pandemic is “one of Britain’s most significant public health failures to date,” a parliamentary inquiry has found, “the British government can be blamed for many thousands of deaths”. that could have been avoided.” The government, according to a Tuesday report by two parliamentary committees, implied a false strategy of herd immunity by failing to conduct widespread testing and delaying lockdowns, social distancing or border controls in the early months of the pandemic. adopted.
After initial stumbling blocks, Britain took the lead in the spring as one of the world leaders in vaccination rates; 78.6% of people aged 12 years and above have now received two doses of a Covid vaccine. But the report – the first major investigation into Britain’s pandemic response – cited several missteps by the government since the first coronavirus cases were detected in Britain in January 2020.
That initial reaction, the product of “groupthink” among top officials in PM boris johnsonThe report said the government and its scientific advisers failed to consider or act on aggressive containment, testing and tracing strategies. As of late March 2020, infections were doubling every three days and the national health system was in danger of collapsing, johnson reversed course and ordered a complete lockdown. “The loss of that time proved fatal for many,” the report concluded.
The investigation found that the government’s decision not to order a lockdown or widespread contact tracing was due to a belief by scientific advisers that the British public would not accept such restrictions. The report said that this assumption was based on limited evidence and turned out to be false, as people generally followed the lockdown measures. Britain has experienced the worst Covid outbreak among wealthy countries, with more than 137,000 people dying of Covid.
The investigation praised some aspects of Britain’s handling of the pandemic, particularly its early investments in vaccine research, including support Oxford-AstraZeneca The vaccine which has become one of the most widely administered in the world. The report said the government’s decision to reduce the interval between doses of the vaccine to enable more people to receive a shot was “decisive and courageous” and “speeds up protection for the UK population”. significantly increased”. The report’s findings do not require the government to take action, but could help shape public debate ahead of a full public inquiry into the pandemic response given by Johnson in 2022.
After initial stumbling blocks, Britain took the lead in the spring as one of the world leaders in vaccination rates; 78.6% of people aged 12 years and above have now received two doses of a Covid vaccine. But the report – the first major investigation into Britain’s pandemic response – cited several missteps by the government since the first coronavirus cases were detected in Britain in January 2020.
That initial reaction, the product of “groupthink” among top officials in PM boris johnsonThe report said the government and its scientific advisers failed to consider or act on aggressive containment, testing and tracing strategies. As of late March 2020, infections were doubling every three days and the national health system was in danger of collapsing, johnson reversed course and ordered a complete lockdown. “The loss of that time proved fatal for many,” the report concluded.
The investigation found that the government’s decision not to order a lockdown or widespread contact tracing was due to a belief by scientific advisers that the British public would not accept such restrictions. The report said that this assumption was based on limited evidence and turned out to be false, as people generally followed the lockdown measures. Britain has experienced the worst Covid outbreak among wealthy countries, with more than 137,000 people dying of Covid.
The investigation praised some aspects of Britain’s handling of the pandemic, particularly its early investments in vaccine research, including support Oxford-AstraZeneca The vaccine which has become one of the most widely administered in the world. The report said the government’s decision to reduce the interval between doses of the vaccine to enable more people to receive a shot was “decisive and courageous” and “speeds up protection for the UK population”. significantly increased”. The report’s findings do not require the government to take action, but could help shape public debate ahead of a full public inquiry into the pandemic response given by Johnson in 2022.
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