I'm sorry I'm in my fourties, still functioning and while in Italy, France and Spain the virus was causing havoc, Downing street was still taking time to prepare an "adequate response" trying to "find a balance to not take Draconian measures"

We've all seen the consequences of their choices

At one point they also talked about "letting the virus spread through the entire population and take it on the chin"

Either Johnson believed it or not, he said it and people reacted to it.

Was it a communication problem?

Maybe

Was it a grave mistake

Yes, it was

I'm not ignoring anything BTW, I stayed home 94 consecutive days in Italy, so please don't try to teach me what it looks like to take responsibility for the sake of your community.