Professor Chris Whitty ‘told off’ Sir Patrick Vallance for backing coronavirus lockdown in early March
TOP doc Professor Chris Whitty “told off” fellow medic Sir Patrick Vallance for calling for a lockdown in March, emails show.
Boris Johnson’s government has been criticised for the delay in giving the order.
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But in a recently released email from May, Chief Scientific Officer Sir Patrick wrote that he “argued stronger than anyone for action for lockdown” only to get a “telling off” from the chief medical officer.
Ex-Cabinet Secretary Sir Mark Sedwill also slapped down his pleas made in early March.
On 16 March Mr Johnson, on the advice of the two scientists, warned “against all unnecessary social contact with others” and to avoid “pubs, bars and restaurants.”
But they were not forced to close until 20 March, before a full lockdown was imposed on 23 March confining Brits to their homes.
Last night the Department of Health and Social Care insisted all decisions were “guided by the advice of world-renowned scientists”.
They added there had been “no delay” in locking down.
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