UK lockdowns were a policy ‘failure’, health expert tells Covid inquiry

Prof Mark Woolhouse said the UK should have sought to avoid lockdowns for as long as possible. Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA

Nationwide lockdowns in the UK during the pandemic were a “failure” of public health policy as they were not considered a last resort, an epidemiology expert has said.

Giving evidence at the Covid-19 public inquiry on Monday, Prof Mark Woolhouse of the University of Edinburgh – a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling (SPI-M-O) – said the group failed to adequately assess the negative consequences of a nationwide lockdown.