How Covid-19 damaged Brand Britain

UK's reputation harmed by vaccine wars, new strains and chaotic response

As the UK passes 100,000 deaths, here's a look back at some of the most poignant moments of the pandemic. Photographs and memorials for those who died during the pandemic sit outside Riverside Church in Burton-on-Trent, England. The 13 crosses include three members from the same family: Jayne Harvey, 62, died from Covid-19 after nursing her parents Keith and Jean McVicar through the virus. Getty Images

Daniel, the son of the late Eric Stonestreet, and daughter Victoria embrace after the service for their father at Ipswich Crematorium in May. Eric Stonestreet was a British Army veteran with the 1st Battalion Royal Green Jackets. He served in Guyana, Hong Kong, Germany and did five tours of duty in Northern Ireland. Though Eric had suffered from PTSD, his family said he had no underlying health problems. He left behind his son Daniel and daughter Victoria. Getty Images

Canon Maggie McLean, the canon missioner at York Minster, lights the Paschal Candle in memory of victims of coronavirus in May. York Minster launched a new initiative for worshipers to email a request for their loved one to be remembered in a prayer that would be said by clergy at the Paschal Candle. Getty Images

Darrell Blakely, 88, a church choir singer from Alkrington, Greater Manchester. Darrell died after contracting coronavirus at a restaurant when he came into contact with a skier returning from northern Italy. His son Jonathan has told of his heartbreak that he could not be with his father in his "direst hour" due to strict rules surrounding the respiratory disease. Rex/Shutterstock

Mary Orme embraces her mother Rose McKimm, during a Christmas Day visit at Aspen Hill Village care home in Hunslet, Leeds. The care home was able to host almost 50 visits for family members during the Christmas period. Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth II awards Captain Sir Thomas Moore with the insignia of Knight Bachelor at Windsor Castle in July. British World War II veteran Captain Tom Moore raised over £32 million for the NHS during the coronavirus pandemic. Getty Images

A nurse at Aintree University Hospital in Liverpool sheds a tear as she pays tribute to 'Captain Tom'. Getty Images

Craig Ruston, 45, who was at the time the youngest coronavirus patient to die in the UK, in March 2020. Mr Rushton, a father of two from Kettering, had motor neuron disease. His wife Sally wrote on Facebook: "My amazing Craig passed away yesterday morning at 6.20am. We are truly heartbroken." Rex/Shutterstock

David Lewis, centre, husband to Gladys and father to Darren and Dean Lewis, is helped out of church by mourners during the funeral of Gladys, Dean, and Darren at St Peter's Church in Pentre, South Wales. Mrs Lewis and her two sons all died of Covid-19 within five days of each other. Getty Images

Geoff Holland, 90, and Jenny Holland, 86, are seen after receiving their injections of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine in Mansfield. The couple, who met in a sheltered housing complex, were due to be married in April but had to postpone their wedding twice due to lockdown restrictions. They eventually held their ceremony in August. Reuters

Pilot John Romain stands with his NHS Spitfire aircraft. The plane is covered in handwritten names of people nominated for acts of kindness during the coronavirus pandemic. After taking off from its home base at Duxford Airfield in Cambridgeshire, its flight path takes it over hospitals and local communities around the country. Getty Images

Heart transplant patient Richard Priest is clapped out by staff as he leaves Royal Papworth Hospital, Cambridge. Mr Priest had been in the hospital waiting for the transplant for more than 200 days, throughout the entire coronavirus pandemic. Getty Images

Donna Campbell, 54, died after testing positive for coronavirus while working as a nurse in the intensive care unit at University Hospital of Wales. Rex/Shutterstock

A memorial service for the victims of coronavirus at Manchester Cathedral in July. The service was held with social distancing measures and streamed online to honour those who have died. Getty Images

Ann Clapham, the sister of Covid-19 victim Dennis Clapham, her son Andrew and niece Ellie attend Mr Clapham's funeral and celebration service in Shipley, West Yorkshire. Ann cared for her brother at home during his illness. Getty Images

People wearing face masks and holding lanterns attend a vigil for the victims of the coronavirus on Westminster Bridge in London. Getty Images

Margaret Keenan, 90, is applauded by staff as she returns to her ward after becoming the first person in the United Kingdom to receive the Pfizer-BioNtech Covid-19 vaccine on December 8, 2020 in Coventry. Getty Images

Medical staff at Louisa Jordan Hospital stand during a UK-wide moment of silence to commemorate workers who have died from coronavirus in April in Glasgow. Getty Images

NHS staff applaud themselves and their colleagues at the entrance of the Royal Liverpool Hospital as part of the "Clap for Our Carers" campaign in April. Getty Images

Marks made from wearing PPE are pictured on the face of nurse Susie Jewsbury, who works on the intensive care unit at Frimley Park Hospital in Frimley, south-west England. AFP

Care home resident Albert Rose, 98, looks on as carers and staff applaud him outside Richden Park care home in Scunthorpe. There was an appeal for people to come forward and help the resident celebrate his birthday, after his only surviving relative was not able to visit due to the pandemic. AFP

Nurse Tina has her name on her visor and a picture of herself on her apron in an intensive care unit where she is treating victims of the coronavirus in Frimley Park Hospital in Surrey. Getty Images

A trained volunteer walks past coffins stacked next to refrigeration units inside the temporary mortuary set up in the car park of Central Jamia Mosque Ghamkol Sharif in Birmingham in April. The temporary mortuary was set up to deal with the pressure of the Covid 19 outbreak. AFP

A member of staff looks at artwork by street artist Banksy called 'Game Changer', showing a boy playing with a nurse superhero toy, on a wall at the University Hospital Southampton. AFP

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak stand inside the Cabinet Room of 10 Downing Street, London, to observe a minute's silence in tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak. Getty Images

A nurse takes a video of a newborn baby in the maternity ward at Frimley Park Hospital in Surrey to send to the parents, as visiting hours are restricted because of the pandemic. Getty Images

Chloe Middleton, 21, died after contracting coronavirus in March 2020. Her mother, Diane Middleton, issued a warning to others on Facebook following her daughter's death. She wrote: "To all the people out there that thinks it's just a virus please think again speaking from a personal experience this so called virus has taken the life of my 21 year old daughter". Rex/Shutterstock

Ellis Tustin, the grandson of Berrice Moore, holds up his grandfather's name as he stages a personal protest against Prime Minister Boris Johnson outside the Houses of Parliament in May. Mr Tustin believes that the government is forgetting that each of the figures listed in the daily death toll update is a real person. He is displaying the name as Mr Johnson passes on the way to and from the weekly PMQ session. Getty Images

Dental nurses embrace before treating a possible Covid-19 positive patient at the Dental Unit at Coed Celyn Hospital in Wrexham. It is the only time the nurses can embrace and have a team hug after fully dressing in their full personal protection equipment. Getty Images

The detrimentally named "UK strain" and the government's handling of the Covid-19 crisis damaged Britain's reputation, experts said.

With the highest death count in Europe and families devastated by the debilitating illness, the country’s standing on the international stage also suffered, they suggested.

A new survey of 4,000 respondents found that the government’s chaotic response to the outbreak had created negative opinions about the UK’s ability to handle a crisis, harming its national reputation abroad.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock on Tuesday lamented that the UK’s identification of a new variant of the virus, found in Kent in southern England and dubbed "the UK strain", had effectively penalised the country, by forcing others to shut their borders to British travellers.

Mr Hancock's remarks came on the day Britain's coronavirus death toll passed 100,000, the fifth highest in the world, giving ammunition to those who believe the UK, at least so far, has failed to adequately handle the pandemic.

On top of that, a dispute broke out between UK pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and the EU after vaccine supplies were cut.

That led to calls for the EU to restrict exports of the vaccine and to the suggestion that Britain may be trying to unfairly hold on to doses made within its borders.

The UK’s vaccine stockpile was unaffected by the move, prompting concern in the EU that pharmaceutical companies were giving priority to higher bidders outside the bloc.

It added to the impression that Britain was no longer playing fairly after failing to deal with the crisis.

The survey of 53 countries, conducted by strategists Bloom Consulting, suggested the UK’s reputation had had been damaged.

It ranked the UK as among those suffering the most reputational damage from its pandemic response, ahead of other hard-hit countries including Spain, Italy and the US.

South Korea, Germany and Singapore were deemed “the winners of the crisis”, emerging with stronger reputations after their response to the first wave of the virus, the study said.

Malcolm Allan, president of Bloom Consulting, said the results of the survey should cause concern.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock in Downing Street. A new survey found that the UK's pandemic response had harmed the country's reputation abroad. AP

"There is too much dislike of what the Westminster government has done," he told The National.

Mr Allan said that Downing Street’s response was generally regarded by survey respondents as chaotic.

“I think the tourists will eventually come back, but the response is damaging in terms of inter-government relations and how the international press are reporting us, which could affect investment in the UK,” he said.

Mr Allan said the "UK variant" title for the strain found in Britain would also harm the country’s reputation.

He likened the name to Donald Trump’s labelling of Covid-19 as the “China virus” during his term as US president.

“It’s not helpful for international relations," Mr Allan said. "There is a negative association with these labels that somehow it is someone else’s fault."

Mr Hancock acknowledged that the UK's advanced genome sequencing capabilities had brought inevitable consequences, such as border closures after scientists identified the new strain.

“Obviously it’s incredibly important we share transparently all that’s going on with our response to Covid and other communicable diseases,” Mr Hancock told Chatham House, a London independent policy institute.

“But there’s a paradox here: the countries that have spotted and sequenced new variants of concern then understandably cause reactions from their neighbours around the world.

"But it is still the right thing to do to protect life."

Sharon Peacock, chair of the Covid-19 Genomics UK Consortium, said many of the Covid-19 variants may not have emerged in the countries they were first discovered.

She said Britain is sequencing more virus genomes than anywhere else, therefore many future variants might be discovered in the UK, even if they came from somewhere else.

"The more you sequence, the more you find," she told The Washington Post. "First detected doesn't mean first emergent."

The World Health Organisation said last week that it was planning a new naming system without reference to countries.

The technical name for the variant first identified in Britain is B117.

“It’s really important that when people call it the ‘UK variant’ or ‘South African variant’ that we aren’t assigning values to these countries,” said the WHO's emergencies director, Mike Ryan.

"These countries aren’t the cause of this problem."

Mr Ryan said the UK should be “commended and lauded” for identifying the new strain.