Covid lockdown could have been avoided and 20,000 lives saved if Boris Johnson had acted earlier, report says
Government’s actions during Covid-19 pandemic ‘too little, too late’
- The Covid Inquiry report has concluded that Boris Johnson's government acted "too little, too late" in its initial response to the pandemic.
- It found that over 20,000 lives could have been saved in England if a full lockdown had been implemented just one week earlier in March 2020.
- The report highlighted a "toxic and chaotic culture" within Number 10 under Mr Johnson and his chief adviser, Dominic Cummings.
- It found that this culture led to poor decision-making, with the views of women often ignored, and Dominic Cummings was identified as a "destabilising influence".
- Inquiry chair Baroness Heather Hallett stated that all four devolved governments also failed to appreciate the scale of the threat, also summarising their response as "too little, too late".