The 500,000 was also Chris Whitty's "reasonable worst case", using 80% infection rate and up to 1% death rate
- no sophisticated modelling their, just his simple back of the envelope multiplication
With a novel virus and carnage in N Italy, there was too little to go on and no responsible government could ignore such an estimation from their CMO
In Germany, we had a "leaked" worst case estimate from the Ministry of Health of 1 million dead, but no official death estimate,
just Merkel quoting the 70% infected that her virologists said was worst case
Lockdown was a pause button to get enough of the missing information and to build up systems and the most effective measures to cope.
Lockdown was a blunderbus, because scientists didn't know what would work.
Now they do and measures are targeted
Well, not yet in the UK, which is weeks behind and a dollar short ....