What are the British doing to battle Covid-19?

While every country has had its own individual response to the coronavirus, there has been a fairly consistent approach of acting as soon as the issue became apparent. However, the UK stood out for taking a slightly different approach, and introducing social distancing and a shutdown at a later point than countries like Ireland. Stories in the UK press suggesting the country had initially aimed to pursue herd immunity and encourage vulnerable and older people to stay at home were much criticised. So why did the UK take the approach it did, and what has it meant for the people living there?