Lockdown ‘would have been much later’ without decision to test in hospitals

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. we prioritised the testing and the prioritisation of the testing is exactly the same prioritisation as WHO put out in its statement nine days later Professor Dame Jenny Harries Dame Jenny was quizzed about remarks she made during a Downing Street press conference in March 2020, after a decision was made to cease community testing. So I think if we had not done this, we would have gone into lockdown much later Professor Dame Jenny Harries “And, by this time, you could then start to extrapolate back what that might mean for community infection rates. We clearly were not in an exemplary position then Professor Dame Jenny Harries Dame Jenny also referred to international pandemic preparedness rankings made before the pandemic, when the UK was hailed as an “international exemplar” because it had a pandemic influenza stockpile. What we have seen in the UK, in our own culture, and without mandation, is that people, if people have the information, then they will start to make choices themselves Professor Dame Jenny Harries She said in some press conferences she used “simpler, less scientifically detailed” language but still tried to get the public health message across.