NationNewsPoliticsTechFact CheckPersonal FinanceAutomotiveSportsBetter WorkplacesWorldRussia-UkraineMiddle EastChina And AsiaBetter PlanetAll World NewsLifestyleFamily & ParentingEntertainmentTravelPetsRelationshipsScienceHealthOpinionMy TurnAll OpinionRankingsHealthFinanceProductsEducationWorkplacesCorporate ResponsibilityAll RankingsConnectNewslettersFacebookInstagramYouTubeTikTokTwitter/XRedditAnnouncementsMoreUnconventionalEventsPodcastsVantageReaders ChoiceNewsweek.AISubscribeSign InNationNewsPoliticsTechFact CheckPersonal FinanceAutomotiveSportsBetter WorkplacesWorldRussia-UkraineMiddle EastChina And AsiaBetter PlanetAll World NewsLifestyleFamily & ParentingEntertainmentTravelPetsRelationshipsScienceHealthOpinionMy TurnAll OpinionRankingsHealthFinanceProductsEducationWorkplacesCorporate ResponsibilityAll RankingsConnectNewslettersFacebookInstagramYouTubeTikTokTwitter/XRedditAnnouncementsMoreUnconventionalEventsPodcastsVantageReaders ChoiceNewsweek.AI WorldCoronavirusBoris JohnsonNews ArticleU.K.’s Coronavirus Death Toll Could Have Halved If Lockdown Was Week Earlier, Former Adviser AdmitsPublishedJun 10, 2020 at 11:53 AM EDTupdatedJun 10, 2020 at 12:54 PM EDT...By Basit MahmoodNews reporterShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberThe U.K. government could have halved the number of deaths resulting from COVID-19, if it had imposed stringent lockdown measures a week earlier, a former government adviser has said.Professor Neil Ferguson, whose projection models for the spread of the virus played a key role in helping to formulate the government's response, made the comments during a House of Commons Science and Technology Committee briefing.He said: "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", Ferguson said."Whilst I think the measures, given what we knew about this virus then in terms of its transmission and its lethality, were warranted - I wouldn't second-guess them at this point - certainly had we introduced them earlier, we would have seen many fewer deaths."Professor Ferguson said he agreed with the decisions taken by the government, but questioned whether they were taken at the right time.The U.K. currently has the second highest death toll from COVID-19 in the world, behind only the U.S.Read MoreAs Prince Philip Turns 99, Pictures of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh Over the Years3 min. readU.K. Prime Minister Eases COVID-19 Lockdown Restrictions and Allows ‘Support Bubbles’3 min. readPutin Is Tightening His Grip on Russia but Coronavirus Makes Him Weaker Than Ever6 min. readWhen Professor Ferguson was asked what went wrong he said:"I think two things - one is a paper actually out in Nature, which highlights that around about that time, just before lockdown happened, the first two weeks of March, we probably had 1,500 to 2,000 infections imported from Italy and Spain, which we just hadn't seen in the surveillance data, until that point...."So there is much heavier seeding than we'd expected."Professor Ferguson said that the government had "underestimated how far into the epidemic this country was, that's half the reason."He said: "The second part, which I think would have been more avoidable, is about half of those deaths occurred in care homes."He said that government policy at the time was that care homes would be shielded from infection.In March, Prof Ferguson estimated that the pandemic would cause at most 20,000 deaths.According to the latest figures from the Department of Health, a further 245 people in the U.K. have died with coronavirus as of 5pm on Tuesday, taking the total to 41,128 deaths.Request Reprint & LicensingSubmit CorrectionView Editorial & AI GuidelinesRecommended For YouRelated PodcastsTop StoriesNewsJared Kushner Proves His Haters Wrong7 min. readNewsIsrael-Hamas: Read Donald Trump’s Peace Declaration for the War in Gaza5 min. readU.S.Trump Admin Suffers Blow in James Comey Case5 min. readPoliticsFact Check: Did Egypt’s Sisi Skip 2016 Clinton Meeting After Seeing Trump?4 min. readU.S.Will Furloughed Government Workers Be Backpaid: What To Know9 min. readNewsPortland Protest Outside ICE Facility Sees Multiple People Arrested3 min. readTrendingWeatherWinter Storm Warning As 3 Feet of Snow To Hit3 min. readH-1B VisasMajor H-1B Visa Sponsor Will Not Hire a Single H-1B Applicant Going Forward3 min. readSocial SecurityNew Social Security COLA Announcement Date Confirmed3 min. readJames ComeyTrump Admin Suffers Blow in James Comey Case5 min. readSupreme CourtAmy Coney Barrett Responds to ‘Heated Dissent’ With Supreme Court Justices5 min. readOpinionOpinionCommonsense Controls Are Needed for Legal Advertising | Opinion4 min. readOpinionAmerica’s Superpower Is Trade | Opinion5 min. readOpinionOn National Farmers’ Day, Can Farmers Tell Friend From Foe? 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