UK's situational awareness was quite poor, it cost many lives: Government scientific advisor

One of the British government's scientific advisors has said on Sunday that the country's delay in imposing a nationwide-lockdown has cost many lives.

Many medical professionals, scientists and lawmakers have criticised the government for its slow response to coronavirus. According to them, the government delayed in imposing crucial restrictions that led to an outbreak in the country.

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The UK is one of the worst-hit countries in terms of the coronavirus pandemic with more than 50,000 deaths, as per the Reuters tally.

During an interview with John Edmund, a member of the government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), said: "We should have gone into lockdown earlier."

"The data we were dealing with in the early part of March and our situational awareness was really quite poor so I think it would have been very hard to pull the trigger at that point but I wish we had ... I think that has cost a lot of lives."

British health minister Matt Hancock disagreed with Edmund's statements on the BBC, he said: "No. I think we took the right decisions at the right time and there is a broad range on SAGE of scientific opinion and we were guided by the science."

According to Edmund, the coronavirus pandemic "is not all over, there is an awful long way to go."