1/ New @CommonsHomeAffs report finds that Govt decision to have no quarantine/border measures in mid March increased pace & scale of the pandemic in UK so that many more people caught virus. Serious mistakes made. Lessons shd be learned on what went wrong https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/2250/documents/20957/default/

2/ In Feb, UK had some quarantine for Wuhan & self isolation measures for places like Iran & Italy. But that wasn’t extended to Spain or France, wasn’t made compulsory & on 13 March self isolation guidance was removed completely. Those were serious errors https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/08/05/quarantine-fiasco-allowed-10000-infected-arrivals-uk/

3/ Just as other countries were introducing stronger border measures (quarantine, screening etc) in March the UK was lifting them & had no border measures in place for 3 months. Fact that UK approach was so different shd have rung alarm bells for Ministers https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-53654644

4/ Evidence shows that over 1300 separate strains of the virus were imported in that period, esp from Spain, Italy & France. We heard other evidence that up to 10,000 people w Covid-19 arrived back in March. Sir Patrick Vallance said imported cases accelerated the epidemic

5/ Govt has said it was following the science. But we have been unable to find any scientific basis or advice behind those mid March decisions - esp to lift all self isolation measures on 13 March - despite repeated requests. If the science exists, Govt must publish it.

Govt says new stay-at-home guidance on 13 March meant border measures weren’t needed. But that only covered people w symptoms & was still 10 days pre lockdown so people cd go to shops/pubs/work. Evidence shows infections from many more strains from people arriving after 13 March

7/ This matters because Govt needs to learn from what went wrong;
- need to take border measures more seriously (signs this is happening now)
- apparent lack of science behind key decisions
- lack of transparency (still a problem)
- not learning from other countries

8/ Govt is right to learn lessons & reintroduce border measures now, inc quarantine for Spain. But our report criticises handling, mixed messages & lack of transparency that put travellers in very difficult position. We call for changes to way air corridor decisions are made

9/ Govt must publish much more information, including on the traffic light assessments and prevalence rates they have done for different countries so holidaymakers can see all the risks. Eg we don’t know if Spain was already on amber list in early July

10/ In global pandemic with ever changing hotspots, all Governments need to be able to use border measures (inc quarantine & testing) at different times to help control Covid19. But that’s why it’s so important for Govt to recognise things that went wrong so lessons can be learnt

Seen Home Office today saying that all decisions were underpinned by science. That’s what we had hoped, but committee members have formally asked 9 times over 4 months for the science behind 13 March decision & not received it. If it exists, Govt should finally publish it