Angelo Ogbonna claims Britain underestimated the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic having failed to take warning signs from Italy.
The West Ham United defender's home country has been the worst hit by the global crisis and this week reported its 10,000 death as a result of Covid-19.
Criticism was fired towards the UK government as a result of their slow reaction to the chaos in Europe, and the 31-year-old believes part of it was down to trying protecting the country's economy following withdrawal from the European Union.
'Initially there was scepticism, the emergency was handled superficially,' he told Tuttomercatoweb.