‘I AM DEEPLY SORRY FOR EVERY LIFE LOST’
Boris Johnson yesterday
BORIS JOHNSON last night said he was ‘deeply sorry’ as Britain’s Covid death toll passed 100,000 – but insisted his government had done everything it could to control the pandemic.
Ten months after the prime minister said Britain could ‘turn the tide in 12 weeks’, the UK became the first European country to surpass the grim milestone with a further 1,621 deaths taking the total to 100,162.
‘On this day, I should just repeat that I am deeply sorry for every life that’s been lost,’ Mr Johnson said. ‘As prime minister I take full responsibly for everything the government has done.
‘We truly did everything we could to minimise loss of life and minimise suffering in a very, very difficult crisis for our country, and as a government we will continue to do that.’
At a Downing Street press conference, he said he found it ‘hard to compute the sorrow in that grim statistic’ but was repeatedly reminded his chief scientist had predicted last March that a death toll of 20,000 would be a ‘good outcome.’
By November 11, the 50,000 milestone was passed but another 50,000 deaths have been recorded since.
Chief medical officer Prof Chris
Whitty warned of ‘quite a lot more deaths over the next few weeks’ before the effects of the vaccines were felt, despite the number of those in hospital levelling off at more than 3 ,000.
The prime minister hailed the ‘genius’ of Britain’s vaccine effort as the number of people vaccinated passed 6.8million.
‘When those vaccines have finally freed us from this virus and put us on a path to recovery, we will make sure that we learn the lessons and reflect and prepare,’ he added.
But Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer accused Mr Johnson of being ‘behind the curve at every stage’, with ministers too slow to impose lockdowns, deliver protective equipment, test for the virus and limit household mixing over Christmas.
The British Medical Association (BMA) projected the grim toll on to its headquarters in London. ‘It’s an unimaginable situationitti thattht none of f us ever thought would be part of our professional lives,’ said BMA chairman Dr Chaand Nagpaul.
‘In some cases we’ve had doctors caring for their own colleagues on a ventilator or intensive care bed, junior doctors trying to keep their consultants, who’ve been training them, alive.’
The total number of coronavirus cases recorded worldwide passed 100million last night.
Britain is only the fourth country – after the US, Brazil, India and Mexico – to pass 100,000 deaths.
The PM said he had spoken to the relatives of some victims and said he offered his deepest condolences.
Paying tribute to the courage of NHS and key workers who had ‘kept our country going during our biggest crisis since the Second World War,’ he said: ‘To all those who grieve, we make this pledge: that when we have come through this crisis, we will come together as a nation to remember everyone we lost.
‘And to honour the selfless heroism of all those on the front line who gave their lives to save others.’