The British government epidemiologist whose research was used by Prime Minister Boris Johnson to justify a national lockdown in response to the coronavirus has resigned from his post after it was revealed he reportedly broke social distancing mandates when he allowed a lover to visit him.
Professor Neil Ferguson, 56, who leads the team at Imperial College London, allowed Antonia Staats, 38, to visit his home in London on at least two occasions, the Telegraph reported.
British lockdown measures bar citizens from traveling between residences or leaving the home for nonessential reasons.
“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 [the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies],” Ferguson told the Telegraph. “I acted in the belief that I was immune, having tested positive for coronavirus, and completely isolated myself for almost two weeks after developing symptoms.”
Ferguson continued: “I deeply regret any undermining of the clear messages around the continued need for social distancing to control this devastating epidemic. The Government guidance is unequivocal, and is there to protect all of us.”
Staats, who lives in South London, reportedly traveled across the city to visit Ferguson on March 30 and April 8 despite telling friends she suspected her husband had contracted the coronavirus.
“In practical terms, you would require a very high level of effective shielding for that to be a viable strategy,” Ferguson previously said in defending the country’s lockdown measures. “The most vulnerable people are also the people who most need care, and most need interaction with the health system and are least able to be truly isolated.”
Critics of the Imperial College seized on the news of Ferguson’s resignation.
“Scientists like him have told us we should not be doing it, so surely in his case, it is a case of we have been doing as he says, and he has been doing as he wants to,” said Iain Duncan Smith.
Charles Walker, a leading conservative in the British Parliament, commented: “People will be desperately missing those that they love, and I totally understand if that separation becomes too much to bear at times.”
There have been more than 195,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the United Kingdom, with more than 29,000 people dying from the disease.
