The study asserts that the British government has “deliberately” adopted, from the beginning of the crisis, a “gradual and progressive approach” instead of immediately more radical measures.
Le Monde with AFP
It evokes the “one of the most important public health failures that the United Kingdom has ever experienced”: an overwhelming parliamentary report, published Tuesday, October 12, says the British government and its scientific advisers committed Serious errors, and accumulated significant delays in the management of the beginning of the Pandemic of Covid-19 in the United Kingdom.
The study, carried out by two parliamentary committees after months of auditions, says Boris Johnson’s government has “deliberately” adopted a “gradual and progressive approach” instead of immediately more radical measures.
This “bad” decision, which made the United Kingdom one of the most affected countries in Europe by the coronavirus with almost 138 00 deaths, is due in particular to the opinions of scientists who advised Downing Street, affirms the report.
Until March 23, 2020, the ministers “only [sought to] moderate the speed of infection” in the population rather than completely stopping its propagation “because of the official scientific opinion, and not against him “.
Scientists composing the Government to advise the government were thus “unanimous”, on March 13, “on the fact that measures to completely remove the propagation of CIVID-19 will cause a second peak.”.
“big mistakes and great achievements”
It is “amazing” that it took them so much time to understand that a complete confinement was necessary, say the parliamentarians, even though they had overwhelming evidence, such as a model of Imperial College London Who claimed that an undoneed epidemic could lead to 500,000 deaths, showing that a confinement was “inevitable”.
“Decisions relating to the confinement and social distancing taken in the first weeks of the pandemic – and the councils who led it – constitute one of the most important public health failures that the United Kingdom has never known, “said the members.
They also distributed the decision not to test the seniors leaving the hospital before they come back to their retirement home and stated that some measures (fire curfew at 22 hours for pubs, prohibition Sports clubs for outdoor children) were unfounded scientifically.
“The United Kingdom’s response has combined great mistakes and successes, such as the vaccination program, affirmed, in a joint statement, Greg Clark and Jeremy Hunt, presidents of the two committees responsible for the report, it is essential to learn to be so powerful as possible during the rest of the pandemic and in the future. “