As it happened: Boris Johnson says things 'could have been done differently' - BBC News
Boris Johnson says the government did not fully understand coronavirus in the first weeks and months.
Boris Johnson says 'lessons to be learned' over handling of virus

The prime minister says the UK government didn't understand coronavirus in the "first few weeks and months" and has acknowledged there were things the government "could have done differently" in its handling of the virus. Speaking to the BBC's political editor Laura Kuenssberg, Boris Johnson said there were "lessons to be learned" about how the virus was managed in the early stages. "We didn't understand (the virus) in the way that we would have liked in the first few weeks and months. "The single thing that we didn't see at the beginning was the extent to which it was being transmitted asymptomatically from person to person. "I think it's fair to say that there are things that we need to learn about how we handled it in the early stages." The prime minister also said there were "very open questions" over whether lockdown came too late - a marked change from ministers' previous insistence that the right decisions were taken at the right time. Asked whether there was a delay in implementing a lockdown which ultimately cost lives, he said: "Maybe there were things we could have done differently and of course there will be time to understand what exactly we could have done, or done differently."