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A government spokesperson claimed the Lancet article was “inaccurate” and denied that the government was following a Suppress-Shield-Treat-Palliate plan, adding that the policy remained to contain, delay, research and mitigate the outbreak and continued to be guided by the latest science and data.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “The UK’s science-led action plan is led by global experts in the principles of infectious disease control. We have followed a clear plan, underpinned by scientific evidence, to contain, delay, research and mitigate the outbreak.”
The department denied claims in the article that it had not tested, isolated or contact-traced. The spokesperson said: “We acted swiftly to contain the spread of the virus and our world-class surveillance, including intensive contact tracing and quarantining of early cases, helped to slow it significantly – and targeted contract-tracing continues.”
The government had tested more than 100,000 people and was set to increase testing capacity to 25,000 people a day, it added.
It said: “The NHS has been mobilising for months and we are working around the clock to give the NHS and the wider social care sector the equipment and support they need to tackle this outbreak. On Thursday alone over 21m facemasks, 9m aprons, 20m gloves and 700,000 eye protectors were delivered to frontline workers.”