Professor Anthony Costello who is a leading public health professor on Friday said that the British government was too slow to react on a number of fronts to the novel coronavirus outbreak that could cause the deaths of 40,000 people in the United Kingdom.

Anthony Costello, professor of International Child Health and Director of the UCL Institute for Global Health, asked the Health and Social Care Committee. “Where were the system errors that led us to have probably the highest death rates in Europe?”

“And we have to face the reality of that: We were too slow with a number of things. But we can make sure in the second wave we are not too slow.” Costello said the death toll in the United Kingdom could reach as much as 40,000 and that just 10-15% of the population might then have immunity.

“The recent estimates, even from the chief scientific officer, is that after this wave – we could see 40,000 deaths by the time it’s over – we could only have maybe 10%, 15% of the population infected or covered,” he said.

“So the idea of herd immunity would mean another five, six waves may be in order to get to 60%.”