UK should bring in border controls to slow virus spread, scientists say

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A panel of experts set up to rival the Government’s own recommended”taking advantage” of Britain’s island status and closing the borders.

The group have called for Britain to close its borders

Sir David King organised the panel after slamming the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) for failing to be transparent.

Speaking yesterday, they called for an immediate rollout of border controls to prevent more infected people coming in.

President of the Royal Society of Medicine’s epidemiology and public health section Gabriel Scally said: “There are countries that appear to have taken effective advantage of their island status, like New Zealand”.

He added the UK was one of the few remaining countries that still had open borders, which “places us in sudden jeopardy”.

Today the Prime Minister of New Zealand announced the country’s borders will remain closed for a “long time”.

The country has recorded a death rate of just one per cent – but PM Jacinda Arden announced plans to keep borders closed for the foreseeable future.

Ninety-six per cent of countries have now introduced travel restrictions due to coronavirus.

According to the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), just eight countries remain open to British travellers.

It comes as it was revealed around 18million people were let into Britain from coronavirus-hit countries without any screening as the pandemic gripped the world.

Shocking figures from the Home Office reveal just 273 travellers from virus ground zero Wuhan and Tokyo were forced to self-isolate after entering the UK.

They came in on four flights from Wuhan and Tokyo in January and February as the virus spread across the world and were taken to specialist facilities in Milton Keynes and Merseyside.

But between January and March 23 – when lockdown came into force – more than 18million entered Britain without screening for the deadly disease, the Guardian reports.

Although the figures include arrivals from all destinations, the Home Office believes tens of thousands of these would come from countries ravaged by the disease.

The panel also looked at how the NHS had coped so far – but  warned it could still risk being overrun after the worst of the outbreak was over.

Deputy Director Runnymede Trust Dr Zubaida Haque said: “I’m concerned about how we’re measuring things… I want to make sure there aren’t other deaths happening because of a disproportionate focus on COVID-19 – it’s right to some extent that the NHS is coping very well right now.

“We have just postponed all cancer treatments, all the urgent care, all the surgeries – that can’t be sustained in 3 months or 6 months time given that the pandemic is not going to disappear in a few months.”