Coronavirus 'chaos' cost 23,000 lives

CHAOS at the heart of government and a failure to take Covid-19 seriously cost 23,000 lives in the first wave of the pandemic, a public inquiry has concluded.

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Former prime minister Boris Johnson presided over a “toxic” culture in Number 10 and regularly changed his mind, while cabinet members including health secretary Matt Hancock plus key scientists all failed to act with the urgency needed to tackle the virus.

Baroness Hallett’s report on the government response to Covid accused Mr Johnson, below, of being too “optimistic” in his outlook in the early months of 2020. And she said his special adviser, Dominic Cummings, used “offensive, sexualised and misogynistic” language as he “poisoned” the atmosphere in Downing Street.

The inquiry found the first and second lockdowns were not inevitable, but the government was left with no choice after failing to implement measures such as social distancing and household quarantine earlier.

Not imposing any lockdown at all when it became apparent there was no choice would have “led to an unacceptable loss of life”.

However, bringing in lockdown a week earlier, on March 16, would have cut deaths in the first wave to July “by 48% - equating to approximately 23,000 fewer deaths” in England, according to modelling, the report said.

The inquiry found:

■The spread of the virus around the world represented “clear warning signs” but the four UK governments did not take the virus seriously enough until it was “too late”.