UK Coronavirus Death Toll ‘Could Have Been Halved’ Had Lockdown Started Earlier

The UK’s coronavirus death toll could have been halved had the lockdown been introduced just seven days earlier, according to Imperial College London’s Professor Neil Ferguson.

THE former member of the UK government’s scientific advisory group stated that although the UK took the right measures to stop the spread of the infection, Britain’s coronavirus death toll “could have been halved if lockdown was introduced a week earlier”. The Professor resigned from the role after flouting lockdown rules.

Speaking to MPs on the Commons Science Committee, he stated: “The epidemic was doubling every three to four days before lockdown interventions were introduced. So had we introduced lockdown measures a week earlier, we would have then reduced the final death toll by at least a half.”

According to official UK figures, the death toll from the disease is reported to hover around 41,128, although experts believe the death toll is actually much higher, and probably closer to around 50,000. That means between 20,000 and 25,000 Covid-19 fatalities could have been prevented had the UK introduced lockdown measures just a few days earlier. However, the UK was one of the last European countries to impose lockdown measures on March 23, and now it’s the country with the most Covid-19 fatalities in Europe, and the second country in the world for the most coronavirus deaths after the US.