Source · Select Committees · Home Affairs Committee
Recommendation 24
24
Paragraph: 118
It is deeply concerning that the Government is not able to provide any estimates that...
Conclusion
It is deeply concerning that the Government is not able to provide any estimates that were produced at any point of the cardinal number of imported cases during March. The Home Office should have requested advice on the estimated number of importations, and the rough proportion of overall arrivals which that estimated figure represented. While the figure of 0.5% of circulating cases resulting from importation is a useful one and indeed may still be reliable as of 15 July, evidence to us demonstrates that these other figures are also crucially important to deciding border policy and should have been made available to Ministers. Nothing the Home Office had told us demonstrates beyond doubt that these other figures were asked for or made available. Having actual estimates of the number of people likely to be affected by any decision is important and can lead to qualitatively different decision- making processes than just relying on figures expressed as small proportions. Estimates should have been available to Ministers throughout March to allow them to make fully informed decisions.
Paragraph Reference:
118
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 Isolation guidance was not dropped on 13 March, it was superseded by the national stay at home guidance.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