LONDON: About 23,000 deaths could have been prevented in England if the first Covid-19 lockdown had been introduced sooner at the start of the pandemic, a UK public inquiry found Thursday.
The second report from an inquiry into the UK response to the Covid-19 pandemic criticized the government in 2020 led by Boris Johnson for a “lack of urgency” in the early days of the pandemic, adding the lockdown was “too little, too late.”
Modelling shows that if the first lockdown had been imposed earlier, it could have prevented 23,000 deaths in England alone in the first wave, according to the 800-page report.
“Had the lockdown been imposed one week earlier than March 23, the evidence suggests that the number of deaths in England alone in the first wave up until July 1, 2020 would have been reduced by 48 percent,” inquiry chair Heather Hallett said.
“The tempo of the response should have been increased. It was not. February 2020 was a lost month,” added Hallett, a retired senior judge.
The inquiry chair also said that if restrictions had been introduced sooner, the mandatory lockdown could have been shorter, or “might not have been necessary at all.”
- ‘Unacceptable loss of life’ -
However, the report — the second in a series from the independent inquiry — rejected claims that the government was wrong to implement the March 2020 lockdown.
“Without it, the growth in transmission would have led to an unacceptable loss of life,” the report said.
The UK suffered one of the worst Covid-19 death tolls in Europe with more than 128,500 fatalities recorded by mid-July 2021.
More than 226,000 people have died from Covid in Britain since the start of the global pandemic in early 2020.
Johnson, who was prime minister from 2019 to 2022, has been criticized on various fronts for the pandemic response, including a lack of preparedness and failing to have enough protective equipment for frontline staff.
During inquiry hearings last month, Johnson said he regretted the impact of the decisions his government took on children, especially the “nightmare” school closures.
The report also criticized a “lack of trust” between Johnson and leaders of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, which have devolved public health care systems.
The first inquiry report published in July 2024 found that UK ministers and officials had been woefully underprepared for a global pandemic.
In a statement, a group representing families who lost loved ones during the pandemic slammed the government’s “catastrophic mishandling.”
“We now know that many of our family members would still be alive today if it weren’t for the leadership of Boris Johnson and his colleagues,” Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK said.
UK Covid inquiry says thousands of lives could have been saved
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UK Covid inquiry says thousands of lives could have been saved
- Modelling shows that if the first lockdown had been imposed earlier, it could have prevented 23,000 deaths in England
- The inquiry chair also said that if restrictions had been introduced sooner, the mandatory lockdown could have been shorter
Ukraine’s Zelensky: We have backed US peace proposals to get a deal done
- “The tactic we chose is for the Americans not to think that we want to continue the war,” Zelensky told The Atlantic
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv had sought to back US peace proposals to end the war with Russia as President Donald Trump seeks to resolve the conflict before November mid-term elections.
Zelensky, in an interview published by The Atlantic on Thursday, said Kyiv was willing to hold both a presidential election and a referendum on a deal, but would not settle for an accord that was detrimental to Ukraine’s interests.
“The tactic we chose is for the Americans not to think that we want to continue the war,” Zelensky told the US-based publication. “That’s why we started supporting their proposals in any format that speeds things along.”
He said Ukraine was “not afraid of anything. Are we ready for elections? We’re ready. Are we ready for a referendum? We’re ready.”
Zelensky has sought to build good relations with Washington since an Oval Office meeting in February 2025 descended into a shouting match with Trump and US Vice President JD Vance.
But he said he had rejected a proposal, reported this week by the Financial Times, to announce the votes on February 24, the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion. A ceasefire and proposed US security guarantees against a future invasion had not yet been settled, he said.
“No one is clinging to power,” The Atlantic quoted him as saying. “I am ready for elections. But for that we need security, guarantees of security, a ceasefire.”
And he added: “I don’t think we should put a bad deal up for a referendum.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Zelensky is not a legitimate negotiating partner because he has not faced election since coming to power in 2019.
Zelensky has said in recent weeks that a document on security guarantees for Ukraine is all but ready to be signed.
But, in his remarks, he acknowledged that details remained unresolved, including whether the US would be willing to shoot down incoming missiles over Ukraine if Russia were to violate the peace.
“This hasn’t been fixed yet,” Zelensky said. “We have raised it, and we will continue to raise these questions...We need all of this to be written out.”
