The UK’s Covid Inquiry has sharply criticized the government, revealing that a ‘toxic and chaotic culture’ at its core led to a pandemic response that was ‘too little, too late’.

The inquiry concluded that if the government had acted more swiftly against the threat of the virus, lockdowns might have been ‘entirely avoided’.

Baroness Hallett, chairing the Inquiry, noted after reviewing 180,000 documents and listening to 166 witnesses, that implementing measures such as contact tracing, self-isolation, and wearing face coverings before March 16, 2020, could have eliminated the need for lockdowns.

As a result of the delayed response, the UK experienced over 200,000 Covid-related deaths by early 2023.

New data analyzed by the Daily Mail reveals a detailed comparison of how the UK managed the pandemic compared to other countries worldwide.

Excess deaths, also referred to as extra deaths, quantify the number of deaths exceeding the average during the same timeframe in previous years.

The figure includes fatalities from all causes.

The method is considered the most consistent way to measure pandemic death tolls because official Covid deaths vary between countries due to differences in logging data. 

Understanding the failings in the UK’s gathering of Covid data gives an insight into why other countries’ data may be unreliable.

Only months after the first British lockdown was implemented did health officials include people from care homes or those who died at home, and also only counted people who had officially tested positive. 

According to excess death figures between January 2020 and May 2023 — when the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Covid was no longer a public health emergency of international concern — the UK fared 65th worst of all 237 countries.

It logged an extra 346 deaths per 100,000 people.

The US was worse, reporting 397 deaths placing it in 51st position. Bulgaria took top spot with a grim 1,048 excess deaths per 100,000 people.  

By comparison, Australia reported 120 extra deaths, putting the nation 193rd. 

Spain followed the UK in 66th spot with 339 deaths per 100,000. 

Neighbouring European nation France, meanwhile, recorded 222 deaths and 122nd place.

After examining 180,000 documents and hearing from 166 witnesses, Baroness Hallett, the Inquiry’s chair, said that if measures including contact tracing, self-isolation, face coverings had been put in place before March 16, 2020, there might have been no need for a lockdown

Ireland was 138th with 186 deaths per 100,000.

In Sweden, which controversially chose not to implement a lockdown and instead relied heavily on trusting residents to use their ‘common sense’, there were an extra 185 deaths than expected, giving it a ranking of 139th. 

New Zealand and Luxembourg were among the most successful to keep excess deaths to a minimum, logging 10 and 25 extra deaths per 100,000 people respectively.

This placed them 224th and 229th. 

In her damning second Inquiry report yesterday, Lady Hallett concluded that the first lockdown which started on March 23, 2020, ‘might have been shorter or not necessary at all’ if restrictions had been brought in sooner — even by just a week.

She wrote: ‘Had a mandatory lockdown been imposed on or immediately after 16 March 2020, modelling shows that in England alone there would have been approximately 23,000 fewer deaths in the first wave’. 

The death toll in this period ‘would have been reduced by 48 per cent’, she said.

Other findings in her 760-page report included that Boris Johnson was too slow and ‘should have appreciated sooner that this was an emergency that required prime ministerial leadership’.

Other findings in her 760-page report included that Boris Johnson was too slow and ‘should have appreciated sooner that this was an emergency that required prime ministerial leadership’. Pictured, during a Covid press conference in March 2020

Sir Christopher Wormald — now running the civil service for Sir Keir Starmer — presided over ‘misleading assurances’ when he was in charge of the health department about the UK being prepared, she said.

He also failed to correct ‘overenthusiastic’ Health Secretary Matt Hancock’s false promises to 10 Downing Street about having the crisis under control.

And the vast majority of children were not at risk of serious direct harm from Covid, ‘but suffered greatly from the closure of schools and requirement to stay at home’.

Children ‘were not always prioritised’ and the government was not prepared for the ‘sudden and enormous task’ of educating children at home.