British government waited too long to implement COVID-19 lockdown, parliamentary report concludes

The British government waited too long to impose a lockdown in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, missing a chance to contain the disease and leading to thousands of unnecessary deaths, a parliamentary report has concluded. The deadly delay resulted from ministers' failure to question the recommendations of scientific advisers, resulting in a dangerous level of 'groupthink' that caused them to dismiss the more aggressive strategies adopted in East and South-East Asia, the joint report from the House of Commons science and health committees concluded on Tuesday.