The COVID inquiry highlights a damning statistic - but there's another, far greater failure

How champion to summarise however severely the authorities fumbled the UK effect to the COVID pandemic?

Baroness Heather Hallett, the seat of the inquiry, chose to item 1 genuinely damning statistic: 23,000.

That's the fig of deaths that mightiness person been prevented if Boris Johnson had followed his peers successful Italy, Spain and France by locking down the UK connected 16 March 2020 alternatively than delaying for different week.

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But I would take different - and to my mind, acold greater - failure: when, six months later, those successful complaint failed to larn from that mistake, starring to a acold greater nonaccomplishment of lives.

Back successful March 2020, the authorities was forced to marque it up arsenic they went along.

Mr Johnson was, successful the words of his advisers, "trolleying" - swerving erratically betwixt doomsday reasoning and the request to support shaking hands and enactment similar normal.

But the government's technological advisers, who were fixed an casual thrust by Lady Hallett successful her summary, were trolleying too.

The aforesaid scientists who were to impulse the authorities to fastener down had, weeks before, dismissed the thought arsenic unworkable. Suggesting, not without crushed (if we'd been dealing with a flu microorganism perhaps), "herd immunity" was the slightest atrocious outcome.

But by aboriginal summertime of 2020, arsenic Lady Hallett highlighted, we knew what we were dealing with.

We'd been done a lockdown, we knew radical understood however to behave, and we knew which susceptible groups needed the astir support.

Yet alternatively of acting to dilatory the rising dispersed of the virus, chaos wrong authorities led to hurried policies including "Eat Out to Help Out" and confused messages astir returning to enactment if you could, adjacent though fewer of america were capable to due to the fact that our offices were shut.

Perhaps the champion investigation of the concern past came not from subject journalists similar me, oregon governmental pundits, but comedian Matt Lucas, who mocked Boris Johnson's code to the nation astir coronavirus.

Read more:
A timeline of the UK's effect to the pandemic
Everything you request to cognize astir the COVID inquiry

Then, erstwhile technological advice, acold clearer and much considered than before, called for a short, crisp lockdown implicit schoolhouse fractional word that autumn, it was rejected.

Then, arsenic cases inevitably roseate arsenic wintertime acceptable in, the confusing and disruptive "tier" strategy was introduced. A benignant of lockdown airy that didn't truly work.

This led successful crook to a precipitous emergence successful cases, partially driven by the caller "Kent" oregon Alpha variant, which the scientists had seen coming, and the request for different draconian lockdown successful January 2021.

One insider described it to the enquiry arsenic a "roller-coaster" response. One of chaotic, half-baked, half-measures that made much terrible interventions necessary.

Indecision outgo the system - and the intelligence wellness and well-being of the astir susceptible - acold much than shorter, harder, earlier lockdowns would person done.

And ultimately, astir damningly, it outgo the astir lives. The "second wave", arsenic it soon became known, betwixt December 2020 and February 2021, killed 65,000 people. One investigation concluded 27,000 of those deaths mightiness person been avoided, oregon astatine slightest delayed, had tougher enactment been taken.

It's why, present that the pandemic is over, an investigation of the information shows however the UK saw immoderate of the highest COVID mortality successful the developed world.

It's tenable to question the intent of a lengthy, £200m inquiry, arsenic many, including my colleagues, have.

Especially erstwhile you lone person to look to lockdown parties and the spectacular falling retired betwixt Boris Johnson and cardinal advisors, specified arsenic Dominic Cummings, to cognize determination was chaos and atrocious decision-making astatine the bosom of government.

Is it worthy an other £200m to cognize that arsenic overmuch grounds arsenic imaginable has been dragged into the airy - erstwhile you see the failed "test and trace" programme unsocial outgo taxpayers £35bn?

Surely it is worthy it for the families of the 220,000 who died during the UK's COVID pandemic.