In response to the reported accusations made by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's office that "disinformation" from China is a big factor that the UK is failing to contain the virus, Professor John Ashton CBE, former president of the UK faculty of Public Health, said "it's very sad."

"I think it's very sad that we have reached a situation where the failures of our own government are being just ignored and not learned from…and rather hitting out in all directions," he said in an interview with Russia Today's Going Underground program on Monday. 

 "The Chinese have been demonstrating quite extraordinary leadership... They've been sharing online globally all their treatment protocols, all their lessons learned," he said. "If only we would wake up and listen to what's been going on elsewhere and copy the best practices."

There have been over 51,000 confirmed cases in the UK, with 5,373 deaths as of Tuesday.

"So we are in a really bad place, as the number of deaths [keeps] climbing very steeply and will continue to do so over the next few weeks," the professor said.  

'British government has made terrible mistakes'

Talking about the shortage of medical supplies such as ventilators, test machines and personal protective equipment (PPE) that has led to the high mortality rate in the UK, the expert said that it all goes back to the failure to "get a grip on the emergency right at the beginning when it became apparent that something very serious was happening at the end of January."

"What should have had happened at that point was to get the right people around the table, not just a narrow segment of scientists, and look and see what was likely to be coming down the track," the expert said. 

"If they had done that, they would have put systemic testing in place, and have all the stuff we are now short of," he added. 

"What we've got is a government that has made terrible mistakes, and is now covering up their mistakes by lying or at least being economical with the truth," the expert said, adding that the whole story of herm immunity took a preposterous notion and many more deaths would occur.  

"The government finds it hard to say those very simple words, sorry, we got it wrong. We need to learn now from our experience and get it right as we go forward into this most acute part of the crisis," he pointed out. 

Disciplinary action to mute medical staff about PPE shortages "repressive and even totalitarian"

When asked whether there are clinical reasons why the health service staff in the UK has been threatened not to speak to the media about PPE shortages, the former health official said it's ironic the government who sees itself as a liberal one is taking more repressive, and even totalitarian, measures.  

Read more: U.S., UK medics threatened to stay silent on lack of protective gear

He said it's been a great tradition in the UK that doctors and other clinical staff could speak out in public if they were concerned about matters that would affect their patients and the public. 

"So it's very worrying to see this trend in recent days, where we've heard various stories of clinical staff being disciplined for speaking about the shortages of PPEs," he said.  

"Probably what we now face is the failure to be open and transparent in tests and share the data with the public, coupled with their really poor communication strategy. [It] means there is a failure of trust, a breakdown of trust between the public and governments," he noted.