From test and trace to dragging its feet on lockdown, the British government’s failures during the coronavirus crisis have not gone unnoticed by the world’s media.
With the UK still under tight restrictions well after many other countries have lifted theirs and the death toll still mounting, questions are being asked abroad about how the UK ended up with so many casualties.
German broadcaster ZDF describes the UK’s response as a “fatal failure”, summarising: “The only thing that is constant: the prime minister’s boasting of sentences like: ‘We will have the world’s best tracing system’ or ‘I am proud of what we have achieved’ or ‘We lead the world in our response on Corona’.”
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Its correspondent notes that “even conservative observers” have been unable to whitewash the last few months.
Another German publication, Die Welt, explains to its readers how far behind the UK’s recovery is: “Only recently prime minister Boris Johnson lifted the strict contact restrictions”, it says, noting that “in Germany this has been the case since the beginning of May”.
Over in the United States, itself hit hard by the virus, The New York Times tells its readers that “England’s ‘world beating’ system to track the virus is anything but”. Explaining the government’s failures, it says: “As with much of the government’s response to the pandemic … the results have fallen short of the promises, jeopardising the reopening of Britain’s hobbled economy and risking a second wave of death in one of the countries most debilitated by the virus.”
The CNN network asked: “Where did it go wrong for the UK on coronavirus?” Meanwhile an op-ed in The Washington Post written at the start of the pandemic in March is simply headlined: “The British government’s response to the coronavirus has been a disaster”. It argues that the British strategy was “flawed” and that the government was only belatedly realising it had made a mistake.
In Australia, The Age newspaper was asking as early as May: “Where did Britain go wrong?” with a headline to an in-depth piece describing the UK response as “the biggest failure in a generation”. The New Zealand Herald meanwhile describes scenes of crowded beaches in the UK, encouraged by Boris Johnson this week, in Britain as “unbelievable”.
Describing the disconnect between Boris Johnson and his scientific advisors, French newspaper Liberation says Britain may be too unprepared to end its lockdown. Its coverage of a press conference by Boris Johnson reports that “The contrast between his joviality and the grey faces of the scientific advisers standing by his side was striking.”
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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.
PA
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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
AP
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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
PA
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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
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
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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
AP
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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
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
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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
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Wreaths laid outside Sheffield town hall
PA
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A group of trade unionists and supporters standing outside Sheffield town hall
PA
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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
PA
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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
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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
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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
Japan’s Asahi Shumbun newspaper this month reported the UK’s high death toll by explaining to its readers: “The UK was late in imposing a lockdown, with limited action compared to European countries where the spread of infection spreads earlier.”
Italy’s Repubblica meanwhile asked whether the Dominic Cummings scandal will have an effect on compliance with the test and trace system. “How will citizens behave now after the scandal of Dominic Cummings, Boris’s ‘Rasputin’?” its correspondent asks, noting that the prime minister “has defended him strenuously” despite breaking lockdown rules. “The risk of ‘anarchist’ behaviour is increasingly widespread,” it notes.
