A damning parliamentary report released on Tuesday claims the UK government made '
big mistakes
' and delayed action at the start of the pandemic, calling it '
one of the biggest public health failures
' in the Kingdom -United. "
The containment and social distancing decisions made in the first few weeks of the pandemic - and the advice leading up to them - are one of the biggest public health failures the UK has ever seen.
" , said the deputies. The United Kingdom is one of the countries most affected in Europe by the coronavirus with almost 138.00 dead.
The study, carried out by two parliamentary committees after months of hearings, explains that Boris Johnson's conservative government, following the advice of scientists, has adopted a "
gradual and gradual approach
" rather than quickly instituting lockdown.
Until March 23, ministers "
only (sought to) moderate the rate of infection
" in the population rather than completely halt its spread, hoping that collective immunity would develop.
Inevitable confinement
On Sky News, Minister Steve Barclay explained that the government had "
followed scientific advice
" and had "
made decisions to act quickly
", citing the vigorous vaccination campaign. Regarding the decision to establish containment, "
at the time, we feared that if we confined too early, (the population) would not agree to remain confined for a long period
", which was ultimately not the case. case, he admitted. The minister refused to apologize but assured that "
if there are lessons to be learned, the government is ready to do it
".
The report published Tuesday notes that scientists advising the government were "
unanimous
" on March 13 "
that measures to completely suppress the spread of Covid-19 will cause a second peak
".
It is "
astonishing
" that it took them so long to realize that full containment was necessary, say the parliamentarians, even with overwhelming evidence, such as a model from Imperial College London who claimed that 'an unchecked epidemic could lead to 500,000 deaths, showing that containment was "
inevitable
".
Public inquiry in 2022
Parliamentarians also lambasted the decision not to test elderly people discharged from hospitals before they returned to their retirement homes, which helped to spread the epidemic. They claimed that certain measures (curfew at 10 p.m. for pubs, ban on outdoor children's sports) were not scientifically founded. While pointing to failures and delays, the report highlights the success of the vaccination campaign which began in December 2020. More than 78% of those over 12 are now fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
'
The UK response has combined big mistakes and big successes
', such as the immunization program, Tory MPs Greg Clark and Jeremy Hunt, chairpersons of the two committees responsible for the report, said in a joint statement, calling for “
learn the lessons
”.
For Jonathan Ashworth, in charge of health issues at Labor, the main opposition party, the conclusions of this report are "
overwhelming
" and show that "
monumental mistakes
" have been made.
A public inquiry into the government's handling of the pandemic is scheduled for 2022.