Piers Morgan has heavily criticised the government after the UK’s daily death toll from the virus approached 1,000.

The 54 year old told his followers on Twitter that he was “delighted” to hear the Prime Minister’s condition was improving.

“But,” he continued, “let’s not be distracted from the shocking fact that nearly 100 coronavirus deaths were recorded in the UK yesterday alone.

“Govt. has serious questions to answer about our preparedness for this crisis.”

More than 7,000 people have died from the virus in the UK since the outbreak began.

Slow to respond?

Morgan’s criticism comes after a Reuters report revealed that Downing Street had been warned about the potentially devastating impact of coronavirus weeks before the lockdown was imposed.

Piers Morgan has criticised the government's handling of the crisis.

On March 2, British Scientists told the government that more than 500,000 people could die in the UK if the virus was unconstrained.

Their report said it was “highly likely” that the UK was seeing “sustained transmission” of Covid-19 inside its borders.

A day later, Mr Johnson infamously quipped that he was still shaking hands with everyone he met - including on a visit to a hospital treating coronavirus patients.

The government waited another 20 days before imposing a UK-wide lockdown.

More tests needed

Reuters reported that, early on in the outbreak, minutes of government technical committees showed that almost no attention was paid to preparing a programme of mass testing.

Almost a month later, at a press conference on April 2, The Prime Minister told reporters that a major increase in the rate of testing was key “to unlock the puzzle” of the UK’s struggle with the pandemic.

Despite a pledge to run 100,000 daily tests by the end of April, the Westminster government confirmed on April 7 that its current testing capacity was just under 15,000.

Explaining the shortfall, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: "We have the best scientific labs in the world but we did not have the scale.”

The government has announced plans to use universities and research facilities to test NHS workers, and is partnering with pharmaceutical companies to boost testing further.

A message from the Editor

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to scotsman.com and enjoy unlimited access to Scottish news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.scotsman.com/subscriptions now to sign up.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Frank O'Donnell

Editorial Director

Piers Morgan says 'serious questions' must be asked of government after nearly 1,000 Covid-19 deaths in a day