COVID Inquiry findings

[Forest Hillbilly]

https://www.itv.com/news/2025-11-20/uks-response-to-covid-too-little-too-late-inquiry-concludes

Just thought it interesting that now we're part of the way through the impartial summary of findings.....
The UK Government messed up. And when it had the chance to learn and get it's act together,...it failed again.

Just thought this would clarify a few issues. Mainly, the Government didn't know best. More to come

 

[ASCPFC]

The opportunity to ban international travel was clearly there. There was no Covid in the UK until someone brought it in. But business and banking came first. Which is patently ridiculous with modern technology. Not wanting to cancel people's holidays a factor? Probably as it would be unpopular. But probably not as unpopular as killing your gran.
Had there been no Covid in the UK, then that would be the only restriction. Any outbreaks due to people illegally entering could have then been managed by emergency teams in isolation. May not have worked but it always bothered me why we needed overseas business people to come over. They didn't have TEAMS or Zoom or even a video call?

 

[Forest Hillbilly]

I'm hoping the Inquiry light is shone everywhere. There are big points, just for starters. :

• The UK Covid-19 Inquiry says the government response to the pandemic in March 2020 was "too little, too late"
• The inquiry report says imposing lockdown a week earlier could have saved 23,000 lives in the first wave in England
• But the inquiry also says lockdown could have been avoided altogether if steps such as social distancing and isolation had been introduced earlier - the inquiry chair, Baroness Hallett, calls February 2020 a "lost month"
• A "toxic and chaotic culture" in the UK government affected decision-making, it adds, saying Boris Johnson failed to tackle it - but his ex-adviser Dominic Cummings says the inquiry "has enabled a vast rewriting of history"
• The inquiry criticises all four UK governments, saying they "did not take the pandemic seriously enough until it was too late"
• Just under 227,000 people in the UK died with Covid-19 listed as one of the causes on their death certificate between March 2020 and May 2023

 

[Wisbech Eagle]

As I anticipated, “too little, too late” summarises the criticism and lesson to be learned, rather than “too much, too early” as many here were arguing both during and after the event.

Hindsight is what this is all about, and recommending greater preparedness is hardly controversial. Nor are the criticisms of individual mistakes made by people under pressure facing completely new problems.

I trust those who thought any and all restrictions were an error now accept they were wrong.

 

[eaglesdare]

All that fuss over the sniffles 🙄

 

[Teddy Eagle]

As I anticipated, “too little, too late” summarises the criticism and lesson to be learned, rather than “too much, too early” as many here were arguing both during and after the event.

Hindsight is what this is all about, and recommending greater preparedness is hardly controversial. Nor are the criticisms of individual mistakes made by people under pressure facing completely new problems.

I trust those who thought any and all restrictions were an error now accept they were wrong.

The Swedes don't.

 

[eaglesdare]

Essentially millions spent on telling us we should have shut down and bankrupt the economy sooner and longer 😴

 

[Wisbech Eagle]

All that fuss over the sniffles 🙄

People don’t die of the sniffles.

 

[Wisbech Eagle]

The Swedes don't.

Sweden isn’t the UK!

 

[Teddy Eagle]

Sweden isn’t the UK!

Whereas every country which locked down is.

 

[Wisbech Eagle]

Essentially millions spent on telling us we should have shut down and bankrupt the economy sooner and longer 😴

No. Unfortunately it’s been necessary to establish that the attitude of people like you wasn’t just wrong but exactly the opposite was right. If the introduction of social controls came earlier lockdowns could have been avoided completely and a lot of savings made.

 

[Wisbech Eagle]

Whereas every country which locked down is.

Every other country is neither Sweden nor the UK. Obviously.

 

[Teddy Eagle]

No. Unfortunately it’s been necessary to establish that the attitude of people like you wasn’t just wrong but exactly the opposite was right. If the introduction of social controls came earlier lockdowns could have been avoided completely and a lot of savings made.

So it was the government's fault.

 

[eaglesdare]

The Swedes don't.

That's right. Sweden imposed almost no social controls, had one of the lightest lockdowns, they kept schools and businesses open, and ended up with lower excess deaths than most countries who had hard lockdowns.

They also didn’t bankrupt itself or ruin their economy to please grumpy old men who were too afraid to come out from behind their sofas until they had thier tenth booster.....

Although they may have ruined their country with mass migration but who hasn't these days 🤷🏻‍♂️

 

[Wisbech Eagle]

So it was the government's fault.

With hindsight, deciding to impose restrictions earlier, looks like it would have ultimately paid dividends.

Playing the blame game is pointless. Making sure the lessons are learned, ready for if and when it happens again, isn’t.

I will be interested to learn, in due course, what the enquiry recommends should be done to ensure compliance from the boneheads who refuse to do their duty and cooperate.

As it would seem unlikely that the gangs of temporary agricultural workers who traditionally arrive to pick fruit and veg would be able to enter, perhaps that presents an opportunity.

 

[Teddy Eagle]

With hindsight, deciding to impose restrictions earlier, looks like it would have ultimately paid dividends.

Playing the blame game is pointless. Making sure the lessons are learned, ready for if and when it happens again, isn’t.

I will be interested to learn, in due course, what the enquiry recommends should be done to ensure compliance from the boneheads who refuse to do their duty and cooperate.

As it would seem unlikely that the gangs of temporary agricultural workers who traditionally arrive to pick fruit and veg would be able to enter, perhaps that presents an opportunity.

The same boneheads who will be paying off the £300/400 bn it cost for the next couple of years.
Maybe even longer.

 

[HKOwen]

Sweden gambled and in effect won compared to others.

There was no right or wrong approach except with hindsight.

 

[Wisbech Eagle]

That's right. Sweden imposed almost no social controls, had one of the lightest lockdowns, they kept schools and businesses open, and ended up with lower excess deaths than most countries who had hard lockdowns.

They also didn’t bankrupt itself or ruin their economy to please grumpy old men who were too afraid to come out from behind their sofas until they had thier tenth booster.....

Although they may have ruined their country with mass migration but who hasn't these days 🤷🏻‍♂️

The biggest difference, which people like you conveniently ignore, when trying to compare Sweden’s approach with ours, is you aren’t comparing like with like.

Not only are population densities very different even more importantly social attitudes and behaviour is. Swedes are compliant. They listen to and follow advice.

Their government asked them to wash their hands, socially distance themselves and work from home. So they did. There was no need to compel it.

We had to, because of the kind of attitude you showed then and since.

Sweden took a risk which paid off for them, but could easily have been a disaster. We decided not to risk it, but decided too late.

 

[Wisbech Eagle]

The same boneheads who will be paying off the £300/400 m it cost for the next couple of years.
Maybe even longer.

If only it was just them. That would be a fitting punishment for the jeopardy they risked for everyone else.

 

[Teddy Eagle]

The biggest difference, which people like you conveniently ignore, when trying to compare Sweden’s approach with ours, is you aren’t comparing like with like.

Not only are population densities very different even more importantly social attitudes and behaviour is. Swedes are compliant. They listen to and follow advice.

Their government asked them to wash their hands, socially distance themselves and work from home. So they did. There was no need to compel it.

We had to, because of the kind of attitude you showed then and since.

Sweden took a risk which paid off for them, but could easily have been a disaster. We decided not to risk it, but decided too late.

They trusted the population to behave responsiblely.