‘ Critical errors on travel made virus crisis far worse’

CORONAVIRUS SPREAD faster in the UK as the Government failed to bring in quarantine rules for travellers in the early days of the pandemic, according to MPs.

The “critical errors” – including the “inexplicable” decision to lift all border restrictions in March – “accelerated” the scale and pace of the pandemic in the country and led to “many more people contracting Covid- 19”, a Commons Home Affairs Committee report said.

The group of MPs backed the decision to include Spain in the current quarantine measures – although it hit out at the way travel corridor decisions were being made and called for improvements.

The inquiry considered all of the Government’s decisions on border measures during the crisis so far, from the early quarantine of 273 people largely from Wuhan, through voluntary selfisolation applying to travellers from specific countries ( including China, Iran and Italy) in February and early March; the lifting of all border measures on March 13; the introduction of mandatory quarantine in June; the introduction of travel corridors; and the most recent decision to reintroduce quarantine for Spain.

Drawing on evidence that “thousands of people with Covid19 arrived in or returned to the UK in February and March”, the committee concluded: “The UK’s experience of Covid- 19 has been far worse as a result of the Government’s decision not to require quarantine during March, which would have reduced the number of imported infections.”

Committee chairwoman Yvette Cooper said: “The Government’s failure to have proper quarantine measures in place in March as the infection was spreading fast was a grave error and meant Covid spread faster and reached more people.”

The Home Office was contacted for comment prior to publication.

SMALL AEROSOL droplets could penetrate some personal protective equipment used to shield people from infections like coronavirus, scientists have warned.

A team of researchers from Heriot- Watt University and the University of Edinburgh created a mathematical model that separated how small, medium and large aerosol droplets were dispersed through the air.

The study found that both large and small droplets travelled further than medium- sized ones. The authors said that while PPE such as masks and face shields were an ‘ effective barrier’ against larger droplets it may be less effective against small ones and that we cannot ‘ afford to be complacent’.

The team is creating an aerosol extractor device to keep clinicians safe during a wide range of aerosol- generating procedures routinely performed in medicine and dentistry.

Extraction units placed near the droplet sources can effectively trap droplets if their diameters fall below that of a human hair, the authors said.

Cathal Cummins, of HeriotWatt University, said: “This has important implications for the Covid- 19 pandemic.

“Larger droplets would be easily captured by PPE, such as masks and face shields.

“But smaller droplets may penetrate some forms of PPE, so an extractor could help reduce the weakness in our current defence against Covid- 19 and future pandemics.”

The authors said that if the spread of coronavirus by aerosol droplets is confirmed to be “significant” then it will require a reconsideration of guidelines on social distancing, ventilation systems and shared spaces.