British Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said he was aware at the start of the pandemic that 820,000 people could die from Covid-19 but that ordering an earlier lockdown would have meant going against scientific advice.
Mr Hancock was being questioned over allegations made by the Prime Minister's former aide, Dominic Cummings, to the Health and Social Care Committee and Science and Technology Committee.
He told MPs he had "no idea" why Mr Cummings had a dispute with him, but had later become aware that he had wanted him fired.
Asked why the British Government had missed for six to eight weeks early in 2020 the signs that the death toll could be large, the Cabinet minister said: "Well, I would absolutely say that we knew about this problem