UK Covid-19 Inquiry says early government action could have saved 23,000 lives; February 2020 labelled a “lost month”.
Report criticises a “toxic and chaotic” culture in government and faults Boris Johnson for failing to address it.
Inquiry calls later failures to learn from early mistakes “inexcusable”, with nearly 227,000 Covid-linked deaths recorded by May 2023
UK Covid-19 Inquiry: Government Acted “Too Late”, Early Measures Could Have Saved 23,000 Lives
Between March 2020 and May 2023, nearly 227,000 people in the UK had Covid-19 listed as a cause on their death certificates, underscoring the devastating human cost of the pandemic
Summary
The UK Covid-19 Inquiry has delivered a scathing assessment of the government’s early handling of the pandemic, concluding that the response in March 2020 was “too little, too late”. According to the report, an earlier nationwide lockdown—implemented just a week before the actual date—could have prevented around 23,000 deaths during the first wave in England. The inquiry also notes that the lockdown itself might have been avoided if basic measures such as social distancing guidance, widespread testing, and enforced isolation had been rolled out in February 2020, a period the inquiry chair, Baroness Hallett, described as a “lost month”.
The report details deep structural and cultural failures within the UK government, pointing to a “toxic and chaotic” decision-making environment in which then–Prime Minister Boris Johnson failed to confront dysfunction and at times “actively encouraged” it.
These conditions, the inquiry states, contributed to delayed interventions and poor crisis management. It also condemns the government’s failure to learn from its early mistakes, calling the repeated missteps during subsequent waves “inexcusable”. Between March 2020 and May 2023, nearly 227,000 people in the UK had Covid-19 listed as a cause on their death certificates, underscoring the devastating human cost of the pandemic.
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