Source · Select Committees · Home Affairs Committee
Recommendation 21
21
Paragraph: 103
The Government does not seem to have examined the full range of possible measures affecting...
Conclusion
The Government does not seem to have examined the full range of possible measures affecting international travel and considered their additive effect. It is understandable that the Government did not consider it practical or effective to simply restrict flights, not least because of large numbers of British residents seeking to return home. However, the failure to properly consider the possibility of imposing stricter requirements on those arriving—such as mandatory self-isolation, increased screening, targeted testing or enforceable quarantine—was a serious error. In mid- March, the Government had a limited sense of how many infectious people were arriving in the UK, or where they were arriving from, and had limited means of controlling the onward spread of the virus from such cases. In the circumstances, a precautionary approach aimed at continuing suppression of imported cases of the virus should have included more comprehensive measures for passengers arriving from places which had significant numbers of infections.
Paragraph Reference:
103
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
The Government is grateful for the committee’s report. However, the Home Affairs Select Committee are incorrect in their assertions. Isolation guidance was not dropped on 13 March, it was superseded by the national stay at home guidance. As has been explained repeatedly to the committee this meant that anyone entering the country regardless of where they had travelled from, like the rest of the population, was required to self-isolate if they developed symptoms. All of our decisions throughout the pandemic have been informed by the science, with appropriate measures introduced at the right time to keep us all safe. The advice given by SAGE has always been based on the best evidence and data available at the time, and is a consensus arrived at by a group of leading scientists. The Government has consistently sought to make decisions taking into account the latest available scientific evidence and advice. During the contain phase of the outbreak we had enhanced monitoring at the borders to quickly identify symptomatic travellers from high risk areas and safely triage them into the health system. This was applied to those returning from Wuhan on 22 January and broadened to the whole of China on 25 January; Japan on 8 February, Iran on 25 February, northern Italy on 4 March and the whole of Italy on 5 March. On 12 March the Prime Minister announced the move from the contain to delay phase as there was sustained community transmission and a significant number of domestic cases