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Originally Posted by DanaC

My contention is that it is wholly inaccurate to suggest he did not recognise it as a pandemic until he was very sick, and a barefaced lie to say he did not take it seriously until he ended up in ICU.

If that contention is true, then cited are the example that he - not anyone else - he acted so before 20 March.

The Queen's government did what patriotic Brits would do even as Boris Johnson remained in denial. They did things like COBRA. Can and did do so without his permission. Since that, BTW, is how democracies, successful corporations, and other productive organizations work.

If the British government is a dictatorship, then COBRA could not exist. Dictatorships stifle innovation and make things worse. In well run democracies, the little people make decisions. And then the boss goes with facts.

In this case, the boss so ignored the facts as to even refuse to participate in COBRA for five weeks. He was in denial. He refused to listen to facts.

Boris Johnson not only ignored what the little people were doing to save British lives. He refuse to participate in what they clearly stated as necessary. Johnson remained in denial until 20 March.

From Reuters on 7 April 2020:

If unconstrained and if the virus behaved as in China, up to four-fifths of Britons could be infected and one in a hundred might die, wrote the scientists, members of an official committee set up to model the spread of pandemic flu, on March 2. ... that was a prediction of over 500,000 deaths in this nation of nearly 70 million.

So on 3 March, he said

Our country remains extremely well prepared.

He continued shaking hands, remained in denial, and did nothing. Still did not participate in COBRA meetings.

The upbeat tone of that briefing stood in sharp contrast with the growing unease of many of the government’s scientific advisers behind the scenes. They were already convinced that Britain was on the brink of a disastrous outbreak, a Reuters investigation has found.

Interviews with more than 20 British scientists, key officials and senior sources in Johnson’s Conservative Party, and a study of minutes of advisory committee meetings and public testimony and documents, show how these scientific advisers concluded early the virus could be devastating.

By the end of January, the government’s chief medical adviser, Whitty, was explaining to politicians in private, according to at least two people who spoke to him, that if the virus escaped China, it would in time infect the great majority of people in Britain. It could only be slowed down, not stopped. On Jan 30, the government raised the threat level to “moderate” from “low.

The little people were studying in early January. And by end of January realized how severe it could be. But Boris Johnson could not be bothered. Reuters even suggests why. He felt Britain had good scientist. So he could ignore it. Did so until 20 March. Long after he was told how bad it could be. Apparently he was too busy celebrating Brexit.

Furthermore, EU meeting from 13 February thought 30 March on this threat could have made the problem obvious. Britain could have attended. But again, Boris Johnson used his emotions to make decisions. Britain did not attend and missed out on meetings that, for example, defined how various EU nations could cooperate - share knowledge and equipment. He was in denial as well as regarded the EU as some kind of evil.

Throughout February, Johnson received daily briefings on the threat. And did nothing. Editor of the Lancet, Horton, said in his editorial that the government did nothing in February to prepare quarantine restriction plans, mass testing, and procuring equipment such as ventilators and PPE.

Government did not even set up labs. Then suddenly in mid-March, laboratories all over Britain received abrupt and urgent requests to hand over nucleic acid extraction instruments used in testing.

Government officials finally put out emergency calls for ventilators in 16 March. Even to France, New Zealand, and Indonesia.

Nicky Longley of London's Hospital for Tropical Diseases knew planning was not happening and was desperately needed in mid-February. The little people desperately tried to address the threat. But suffered a severe problem.

First indication that Boris Johnson even listened was on 12 March in a speech when he said, "families are going to lose loved ones before their time." That is the first time he apparently listened to dire warnings. But still did nothing.

By 13 March, professional football leagues suspended their games since players were already infected. Other institutions had already closed because the threat was so obvious to the public. But Johnson even refused to close schools and ban mass gatherings. He was still in denial with Imperial College's warning of 510,000 deaths on 16 March.

Apparently that report finally got the attention of Johnson and the Trump administration. A few days later, Boris Johnson finally admitted to "Britain, we have a problem."

The little people said even in January that a serious threat exists. But nothing much happened until the nation took it seriously. Before Boris Johnson finally admitted to what he should have known almost two months earlier.

No way around the fact. He ignore the threat until even major institutions finally did things on their own.

It's the Queen's government. A government that tried to address a threat while Boris Johnson did nothing - remained in denial. As any good extremist would when his emotions trump facts. Which also explains another disaster called Brexit.

DanaC. I once thought you were a moderate. I never once insulted you. I simply insisted you do what an adult does. Provide facts. Such as the many above that show how wrong you are. Your feelings are irrelevant. Above facts are. Please stop posting using UG logic. It does not become you.

Queen's government recognized the threat in January. He did not even realize a threat might exist until 12 March. And did not take it seriously until about 20 March. Long after everyone else knew better. Facts above make that obvious.