The UK government's woeful response to the coronavirus outbreak | Letters

Guardian readers lament Boris Johnson's failure to grasp the scale of the crisis, which was foreshadowed by cuts to the NHS and public services

I could not agree more with Richard Horton (Scientists have been sounding the alarm on coronavirus for months. Why did Britain fail to act?, 18 March). Watching from 6,000 miles away and on the other side of the coronavirus curve, the British government's actions over the last week have been almost impossible to take in.

Thousands, tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands of deaths predicted in the UK? South Korea, China, Japan, and Taiwan have a combined population about 24 times the UK's, had less warning, and have recorded fewer than 3,500 deaths between them (WHO situation report, 18 March).