Where did it go wrong for the UK on coronavirus?

London CNN — The British government has claimed a win in its battle against coronavirus. Despite this, the chief scientific adviser, Patrick Vallance, agreed with Johnson that canceling large events was “not a major way to tackle this epidemic.” Indeed, the next day, Vallance told BBC Radio 4’s flagship morning news program, in a now-infamous interview, that a “key” aim would be to “build up some kind of herd immunity so more people are immune to this disease and we reduce the transmission.” Government sources have told CNN that herd immunity was never official policy. “From abandoning track and trace, to the timing of the lockdown, to providing the correct protective equipment, ignoring basic public health science may have led to more deaths than necessary.” Pankhania believes that despite government claims it has been guided by science at every step, the decision to delay lockdown was likely “governed by economic consideration, rather than public health science.” This conflict between the government’s claim that it has followed the science from day one, and some in the scientific community’s skepticism as to how good that evidence is, has become a key battlefield between those inside and outside the UK government. It’s “driving the public health guys mad,” said another scientist who has contributed to the UK’s National Risk Register, an overview of the potential threats facing the UK. “It is important to note that economics can be rebalanced, but lives lost cannot be bought back.” He stresses that even if lockdown is lifted, the government must be prepared to “shut it down again.” Robert Dingwall, professor of social science at Nottingham Trent University and a member of NERVTAG, says: “The biggest challenge for the government is levels of fear and anxiety in the general population, which may make people reluctant to go along with the release from lockdown.” The UK’s coronavirus story has been dramatic, even by international standards.