The government's coronavirus mantra avoids its systemic problem

Paul Marshall makes the compelling point that mistakes have almost certainly been made by scientists and Public Health England. However, in the British system, power lies not with the scientists and officials, but with elected politicians.

And I have been concerned since the start of this outbreak that ministers were using the expert advice of the scientists and epidemiologists, and the recommendations of the assorted expert committees, as a reason not to take responsibility for life-and-death decisions.

‘We’re following the science’ has been the ministerial mantra and cliché of this crisis. And if we’ve learned anything in this crisis it is the limits of scientific knowledge in respect of a new virus.

What matters, I think, is not the precise date of the lockdown. We won’t know for some time whether these unprecedented restrictions on our freedoms were implemented too early, too late or just about the right time.

There is a gap between the government’s capacity to identify a clear and present danger and then take the steps to limit its harm

But what we do know, beyond reasonable doubt, is that it was eminently possible to increase investment in testing capacity many weeks earlier than happened, and it should have been possible to learn there was not enough PPE protective clothing equipment for all healthcare workers in hospitals, care homes and assorted public services.