UK coronavirus adviser Neil Ferguson steps down after lockdown breach
- The epidemiologist resigned from his advisory role after a newspaper reported he broke social distancing rules by meeting a female friend
- Ferguson’s team produced modelling on the likely spread of the virus, which is seen as a turning point in the country’s response to the Covid-19 outbreak
Epidemiologist Neil Ferguson, a professor at Imperial College in London, said he was standing down from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), which plays a key role in shaping government policy.
The Telegraph said he had been visited by a 38-year-old woman on two occasions. This would breach rules which say citizens must only leave their homes to shop for food, for exercise or medical needs, or if they cannot work from home.
“I accept I made an error of judgment and took the wrong course of action. I have therefore stepped back from my involvement in SAGE,” Ferguson said in a statement.
Ferguson’s academic team produced modelling on the likely spread of the virus, which has been repeatedly cited by ministers, and is seen as a turning point in their response to the Covid-19 outbreak.
The model showed that under a reasonable worst-case scenario as many as 500,000 people could die. It contributed to the decision to impose the most far-reaching restrictions on daily life in Britain’s peacetime history to stop the spread of the virus.