UK government's slow response has cost lives, says expert

WHO lists the UK among countries to have 'tempered' the positive signs in Europe

THE UK is among a handful of countries singled out by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for having "tempered" the "positive signs" that Europe is passing the peak of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Dr Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, said that while there have been "optimistic signs" in countries worst affected by coronavirus, others, such as the UK, demonstrated "sustained or increased levels of incidents".

The UK was one of a handful of countries (listed alongside Turkey and Russia) he singledout for providing an antidote to optimism elsewhere among the 53 members in the WHO's European region.

Latest figures from the Department of Health said a total of 12,868 patients died in hospital after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK as of 5pm on Tuesday - an increase of 761 on the previous day - with the UK braced for an announcement on the extension of lockdown rules later yesterday (Thursday).

Fatal slow response

A former chief scientific adviser has stated the government was too slow to respond to coronavirus and its delays have led to deaths.

Professor Sir David King told LBC radio he did not know why it took so long to take action once the virus began to spread in China.

He said: "I'm very saddened by the predicament we're in. Why we didn't respond so much sooner once this epidemic broke out in China, I simply don't know.

"And I say this because in 2006, we published a report on actions needed to deal with a pandemic, and in that report, we showed that if an outbreak occurred of any new virus of this kind anywhere in the world, within three months, due to air travel, it would be everywhere in the world.

"That of course is what has happened and it seems like we were unprepared and we didn't take action.

"We didn't manage this until too late and every day's delay has resulted in further deaths in the United Kingdom."

Sir David, who was chief scientific adviser from 2000 to 2007, also said he believes that austerity policies under the Tory-Liberal Democrat coalition have affected the response to Covid-19.

"It goes right back to 2010 when the Government came in with a very clear policy to reduce public spending across the board, including the National Health Service," he said.

"I'm afraid these austerity measures did lead to the cutting back on the risk management programmes.

"Clearly this also managed to cause problems with flooding across the UK. We were much better prepared for better spending with the Environment Agency on that and equally unprepared for pandemics.

"For me, this is very upsetting because we had set this preparation process in place back in 2006."

Asked if austerity had cost lives, he said: "Absolutely, that is what I'm saying."

On what the Government needs to do next, Sir David said: "Until we get testing done on a very much wider scale, we're not going to begin to manage this."

He said there was a request from within the Department of Health in 2015 for a report into preparedness for a pandemic which was never published.

PM focused on recovery

Boris Johnson is concentrating on his health rather than Government work, Downing Street has said.

After spending a number of days in St Thomas' Hospital in London after contracting coronavirus, Mr Johnson is recuperating at the Prime Minister's country residence, Chequers.

The PM's official spokesman said Mr Johnson tested negative for Covid-19 on leaving hospital.

Asked about the Prime Minister being tested before he was discharged, Mr Johnson's spokesman said: "It is standard practice in hospital to do that.

"And the results came back negative."

He added: "The Prime Minister is focusing on his recovery and he is not currently carrying out Government work.

"Having been discharged from hospital he is continuing his recovery at Chequers.

"And, on the advice of his medical team, the Prime Minister is not immediately returning to work."

Pressed on how ill the PM was when he was in hospital, Mr Johnson's spokesman said: "As we set out, his condition did worsen over the course of last Monday afternoon and he had to be moved to the intensive care unit.

"Now, clearly, if a person is moved to intensive care, that means that they are requiring a significant level of specialist treatment.

Asked why he was at Chequers and not his primary residence in Downing Street, Mr Johnson's spokesman said it is considered to be a "suitable place" for the PM to continue his recovery.