22 April 2020

Leader: A culture of carelessness

Britain’s plight has become a cautionary tale: it has recorded one of the highest death rates from Covid-19 in the developed world.

By New Statesman

LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 25: Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves 10 Downing Street for PMQ's on March 25, 2020 in London, England. British parliament will be suspended tonight due to concerns about the spread of COVID-19. It had previously been scheduled to break for Easter on March 31; it will tentatively sit again on April 21. The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has spread to at least 182 countries, claiming over 18,000 lives and infecting hundreds of thousands more. (Photo by Peter Summers/Getty Images)

The coronavirus pandemic afflicting the United Kingdom and the world was not unforeseen. For the past 13 years, the outbreak of such a pandemic has been deemed the greatest national threat by the National Risk Register. In November 2011, the government boasted that the UK was “one of the best-prepared countries in the world” for a pandemic.

Today, however, Britain’s plight has become a cautionary tale: it has recorded one of the highest mortality rates from Covid-19 in the developed world (more than 16,500 people have died to date) and one of the lowest testing rates. Its health workers suffer from a chronic lack of masks, gowns and ventilators, and its care homes have become morgues.