Johnson went ahead with the 14 day travel quarantine, despite the scientists saying it's a waste of time now and that incoming travellers have more to fear from UK border force officials.
The Times today;
"Scientists hit out at plans for quarantine"
Mark Woolhouse, of the University of Edinburgh...
Paul Hunter, of the University of East Anglia...
www.thetimes.co.uk/article/coronavirus-scientists-hit-out-at-plans-for-quarantine-02x9s2vhh
It's a story because the government delayed lockdown so they could have a party.
Previously from Mark Woolhouse and Paul Hunter -
March 10 Would a lockdown work for the UK?
Professor Paul Hunter, from the University of East Anglia, said a lockdown probably would not be appropriate here but that measures in this country are likely to be stepped up as the disease progresses.
He said: "We are currently seeing a much more gradual increase in numbers and these are already distributed throughout the UK, unlike the situation in Italy where cases were concentrated in a single region.
"More rigorous social distancing measures are likely to be implemented in the UK over coming days or weeks as case numbers increase.But the timing of their introduction will be chosen to hopefully maximise the benefit whilst minimising the harm to British society."
www.walesonline.co.uk/news/uk-news/reason-coronavirus-spread-rapidly-italy-17898170
March 12 Expert reaction to Trump suspending travel to US from 26 countries in the Schengen border-free travel area of Europe.
Prof Paul Hunter, Professor in Medicine, UEA, said: “It is uncertain what the US intends to achieve with the recently announced travel ban to the Schengen area of Europe. Many of us have been pointing out since the COVID-19 epidemic began that travel bans have a poor record on preventing the spread of epidemic diseases. At best travel bans only delay the spread of an epidemic by a short while.
www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-trump-suspending-travel-to-us-from-26-countries-in-the-schengen-border-free-travel-area-of-europe/
Why is the UK approach to coronavirus so different to other countries?
This stance appears at odds with the World Health Organization (WHO), which has called on countries to “take urgent and aggressive action”.
“That to me translates into hit hard, early,” says Mark Woolhouse at the University of Edinburgh, UK.
But Woolhouse is broadly supportive of the UK government’s approach.That is partly because he believes it is more sustainable over time than that of the WHO, which he says appears to want to eradicate the virus entirely, like with SARS, rather than learning to live with a virus that may be here to stay.
“At some point, I suspect the WHO is going to have to change its position to something like the UK government’s, and not the other way around,” he says.
www.newscientist.com/article/2237385-why-is-the-uk-approach-to-coronavirus-so-different-to-other-countries/#ixzz6OPdcJMTt
Based on their previous expert opinion should we introduce the quarantine or not?