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The government’s chief medical officer Chris Whitty has said that coronavirus testing was expanded too slowly at the start of the outbreak, leaving the UK “trying to see our way through the fog” as Covid infections increased.
Professor Whitty said that the failure to get testing going at scale early was the largest of “a long list” of regrets he has about the UK response
In contrst, prime minister Boris Johnson refused to say whether he had any regrets over his government’s handling of the pandemic.
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Speaking alongside Prof Whitty at the daily Downing Street coronavirus briefing, Mr Johnson said it was “simply too early to judge ourselves”.
But the chief medical officer said that the PM’s scientific advisers would not wait until the end of the outbreak to work out what had been done badly or well, but were “always looking back” in order to learn lessons as events unfolded.
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Staff react outside Salford Royal Hospital in Manchester during a minute’s silence to pay tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak
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Staff inside Camberwell bus depot in London, during a minute’s silence
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NHS staff at the Mater hospital in Belfast, during a minute’s silence to pay tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak.
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Shoppers observe a minute’s silence in Tescos in Shoreham
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Firefighters outside Godstone fire station
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6/30 Salford Royal Hospital
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7/30 Salford Royal Hospital
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Hospital workers take part in a protest calling on the British government to provide PPE across Britain for all workers in care, the NHS and other vital public services after a nationwide minute’s silence at University College Hospital in London
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A school children’s poster hanging outside Glenfield Hospital during a minute’s silence
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A man holds a placard that reads “People’s health before profit” outside St Thomas hospital
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Staff members applaud outside the Royal Derby Hospital, following a minute’s silence
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Cabinet Secretary Mark Sedwill, Prime minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, stand inside 10 Downing Street, London, to observe a minutes silence in tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak
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13/30 University College Hospital, London
Hospital workers hold placards with the names of their colleagues who have died from coronavirus as they take part in a protest calling on the British government to provide PPE
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Staff at Waterloo Station in London, stand to observe a minute’s silence, to pay tribute to NHS and key workers who have died with coronavirus
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Medical staff at the Louisa Jordan hospital stand during a UK wide minutes silence to commemorate the key workers who have died with coronavirus in Glasgow
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An NHS worker observes a minute’s silence at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital
Reuters
17/30 Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London
AFP via Getty
18/30 Belfast, Northern Ireland
NHS staff observe a minutes silence at Mater Infirmorum Hospital
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NHS workers hold a minute’s silence outside the main entrance of Derriford Hospital
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NHS Frimley Park Hospital staff at the A&E department observe a minute’s silence
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21/30 Mater Infirmorum Hospital
People applaud after a minutes silence in honour of key workers
Reuters
22/30 Waterloo Station, London
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Wreaths laid outside Sheffield town hall
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A group of trade unionists and supporters standing outside Sheffield town hall
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First Minister Nicola Sturgeon stands outside St Andrew’s House in Edinburgh to observe a minute’s silence in tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak
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Staff stand outside the Royal Derby Hospital, during a minutes silence
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Police officers observe a minutes silence at Guy’s Hospital
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A woman standing outside Sheffield town hall
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29/30 Royal Derby Hospital
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NHS workers during a minute’s silence outside Glenfield Hospital
Getty
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Staff react outside Salford Royal Hospital in Manchester during a minute’s silence to pay tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak
PA
2/30
Staff inside Camberwell bus depot in London, during a minute’s silence
PA
3/30
NHS staff at the Mater hospital in Belfast, during a minute’s silence to pay tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak.
PA
4/30
Shoppers observe a minute’s silence in Tescos in Shoreham
Getty
5/30
Firefighters outside Godstone fire station
PA
6/30 Salford Royal Hospital
Getty
7/30 Salford Royal Hospital
PA
8/30
Hospital workers take part in a protest calling on the British government to provide PPE across Britain for all workers in care, the NHS and other vital public services after a nationwide minute’s silence at University College Hospital in London
AP
9/30
A school children’s poster hanging outside Glenfield Hospital during a minute’s silence
Getty
10/30
A man holds a placard that reads “People’s health before profit” outside St Thomas hospital
Getty
11/30
Staff members applaud outside the Royal Derby Hospital, following a minute’s silence
PA
12/30
Cabinet Secretary Mark Sedwill, Prime minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, stand inside 10 Downing Street, London, to observe a minutes silence in tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak
PA
13/30 University College Hospital, London
Hospital workers hold placards with the names of their colleagues who have died from coronavirus as they take part in a protest calling on the British government to provide PPE
AP
14/30
Staff at Waterloo Station in London, stand to observe a minute’s silence, to pay tribute to NHS and key workers who have died with coronavirus
AP
15/30
Medical staff at the Louisa Jordan hospital stand during a UK wide minutes silence to commemorate the key workers who have died with coronavirus in Glasgow
Getty
16/30 London
An NHS worker observes a minute’s silence at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital
Reuters
17/30 Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London
AFP via Getty
18/30 Belfast, Northern Ireland
NHS staff observe a minutes silence at Mater Infirmorum Hospital
Reuters
19/30 Plymouth
NHS workers hold a minute’s silence outside the main entrance of Derriford Hospital
Getty
20/30
NHS Frimley Park Hospital staff at the A&E department observe a minute’s silence
Getty
21/30 Mater Infirmorum Hospital
People applaud after a minutes silence in honour of key workers
Reuters
22/30 Waterloo Station, London
AP
23/30
Wreaths laid outside Sheffield town hall
PA
24/30
A group of trade unionists and supporters standing outside Sheffield town hall
PA
25/30
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon stands outside St Andrew’s House in Edinburgh to observe a minute’s silence in tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak
PA
26/30
Staff stand outside the Royal Derby Hospital, during a minutes silence
PA
27/30 London
Police officers observe a minutes silence at Guy’s Hospital
Reuters
28/30
A woman standing outside Sheffield town hall
PA
29/30 Royal Derby Hospital
PA
30/30 Leicester,
NHS workers during a minute’s silence outside Glenfield Hospital
Getty
Asked what his greatest regret was in the handling of the pandemic, Prof Whitty said: “I think there’s a long list actually of things which we need to look at very seriously.
“If I was to choose one, it would probably be looking at how we could speed up testing very early on in the epidemic.
“Many of the problems that we had came because we were unable to actually work out exactly where we were, and we were trying to sort of see our way through the fog with more difficulty.
“There are many good reasons why it was tricky, but I think if I was to play things again – and this is largely based on what some other countries were able to do, particularly Germany – I think that’s the one thing that we would probably have put more emphasis on an earlier stage.
“There are many others, but I want to highlight that one.”
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Speaking a day after the government was forced to ditch plans to get all primary pupils back into schools before the summer and amid ongoing questions about its test and trace programme, Mr Johnson pushed aside questions about whether he wished he had done anything differently.
“A lot of the questions this evening have been about what did we get wrong in the past,” he told the briefing.
“All I can say is that it is simply too early to to judge ourselves we simply don’t know the answer to a lot of these questions.
“But I can tell you we know a lot more now than we did in January or February, or even March, and one thing we really do know about tackling coronavirus is you have to proceed with caution and that’s what we’re doing.”
He added: “Frankly, I think that a lot of these questions are still premature and there are lots of things, lots of data, that we still don’t know. And this epidemic still has a long way to go alas, not just in this country but around the world.”
But Prof Whitty rejected the idea that it was impossible to assess the success or failure of particular interventions while the outbreak was still ongoing.
It will be “absolutely necessary” to hold a post-emergency review once the UK has got over the epidemic he said.
But he added: “It’s not a matter of ‘do we ever look back?’ We always look back – that is the whole point of having the scientific and medical method. You look back and you say ‘What could we have done better and what can we do for the future?’
“So we absolutely should. It’s always a question of timing and it’s always a question of what can you do now, even in the middle of something.
“And be very clear – we are not at the end of this epidemic not by a long shot. We’re in the middle of it. Do we actually wait until all the data comes in, and then look back and say ‘These are the right things to do’?”
Chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said: “Will we have got everything right? No, for sure we won’t. There are some things that we will have got wrong and we need to make sure that we understand what they are, learn from them and get them right next time.
“And that’s exactly what we need to do. And we shouldn’t be just guessing as to what those things are now.”
