Chief medical officer Sir Chris Whitty has told the Covid inquiry that the UK was "a bit too late" in imposing the first national lockdown in March 2020.
Sir Chris, who became one of the most recognisable figures in the country during the pandemic, is giving evidence to the inquiry on the Government's handling of the pandemic.
His evidence is expected to last for the whole of Tuesday and could even extend into Wednesday.
It comes a day after evidence from former chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance, a close colleague who frequently appeared alongside him at coronavirus-era press conferences.
Diary entries by Sir Patrick have so far offered extraordinary insights into his view of Mr Johnson, Rishi Sunak and the decisions taken by politicians as the crisis unfolded.
Lady Hallett’s inquiry heard on Monday that Mr Johnson was “bamboozled” by the graphs and data presented to him during the pandemic and was sometimes a “broken” man.
The inquiry also heard about a diary note Sir Patrick made on October. 25, 2020, about a meeting involving Mr Johnson and Mr Sunak.
The diary entry shown to the inquiry recorded how Dominic Cummings, Johnson’s most senior adviser during the pandemic, had relayed to Sir Patrick what he said he had heard at the meeting.
