Current Affairs Coronavirus Thread - Serious stuff !!!

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LouReedwalkonthewildside said:
Leading scientists warn Boris Johnson his two-week quarantine plan 'makes no sense' - but Priti Patel vows to press on with it

Priti Patel insisted a 14-day quarantine for UK arrivals is 'essential to save lives' - despite the government's own scientific advisers distancing themselves from the plan.

The Home Secretary yesterday defied a huge Tory revolt led by former Prime Minister Theresa May to tell MPs the blanket rule will come into force from Monday, with the next review not due to happen until the end of the month.

She admitted it will hit businesses hard - and confirmed 'travel corridors' are being considered to low-infection countries.

However, it later emerged that the government's own scientific advisers were against the move, with Sir Patrick Vallance, the chief scientific officer, confirming that Sage scientists had not been asked for their advice on the plans.

Sources also claim that there is frustration among some members of the board, who feel that introducing the restrictions is 'not following the science' while one scientist blasted the proposals for making 'no sense'.

Sir Patrick said at yesterday's Downing Street briefing: 'The Sage advice is that measures like this are most effective when cases are very low and when they are applied to countries with higher rates.'

He added the implementation of the measures were a political decision and noted there were still 'relatively large numbers' of new infections in Britain.

Mark Woolhouse, from the University of Edinburgh and a member of the SPI-M group, which models the pandemic for Sage, said that the quarantine would only have a 'negligible impact on public health'.

He told the Times: 'It's a very odd time to bring it in. It makes no sense as a public health measure. When quarantining people coming in from overseas is a really good idea is when there is a high probability they have the infection.

'There are probably a handful of cases coming in and [quarantine brings] an undetectable benefit from a public health point of view.'

With limited exceptions for lorry drivers and NHS workers, everyone coming to the country by plane, rail or sea from Monday will be ordered to give an address and self-isolate for two weeks, with spot checks from officials.

While she was adamant the clampdown was 'proportionate' to ensure coronavirus did not spike again, Ms Patel did raise hopes by saying the government is looking at 'international travel corridors' to low infection countries in the future.

But she was assailed by a slew of Conservatives, with former minister Theresa Villiers urging her to act to 'save jobs in aviation and let families go on holidays in the sun'.

In the Commons, former PM Mrs May said: 'Instead of measures to close Britain off from the rest of the world, why is the Government not taking a lead in developing an international aviation health screening standard to save jobs and ensure Britain is open for business?'

Ex-trade secretary Liam Fox said the government's policy contortions resembled 'gymnastics', and the focus should be on test and trace rather than 'unnecessary economic isolation'.

Ryanair branded the system 'utterly ineffective' saying because spot checks are carried out on the phone people could trick officials even if they were out playing golf or on the beach.

At the Downing Street briefing tonight, Boris Johnson confirmed that ministers are looking at the prospects for air bridges. But he insisted they will only be possible 'when the evidence shows it is safe to do so'.

The review criteria for the quarantine include international infection rates, what controls other countries have in place and whether 'antibody and other testing methodologies' can help minimise the health risk.

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Despite the resistance from business and Conservative MPs, Ms Patel was boosted today by a poll suggesting the public overwhelmingly supports the restrictions. The YouGov research found 63 per cent in favour of applying the rule broadly, while 24 per cent said it should only cover countries with high infection rates. Just 4 per cent did not think there should be any quarantine.
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But it does make sense to the people who it's aimed at: Daily Mail readers et al. who due to their xenophobia love a story about immigration no matter how crude.
 
Labour MP Barry Gardiner has defended his decision to breach lockdown restrictions to join thousands of Black Lives Matter protesters in London.

The former shadow minister was accused of “fragrantly flouting the law” by a fellow MP after he posted a video of himself demonstrating in Westminster on Wednesday. He captioned the picture: "Been social distancing since March. Today I broke it to join the #BlackLivesMatter demo outside Parliament."

Mr Gardiner issued a statement on the Labour Party website on Thursday morning, explaining his dual obligations to “set an example” and “call out racial injustice”.
 
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