Is ‘following the science’ being used to save or silence us?

Rival SAGE calls for more transparency

The group believes there needs to be a port control policy to stop imported cases of infection.

Gabriel Scally, visiting professor of public health at the University of Bristol, said Britain should “take advantage of its island status”, like New Zealand and Taiwan have, to prevent infected people coming in from abroad.

He said: “Nine out of ten of the world’s population live in countries where there are border controls in place because of the virus, yet Britain maintains its open borders policy, which places us in some jeopardy.”

He said anyone arriving via our airports, ports and the Eurotunnel should be quarantined for 14 days. GOVERNMENT’S POSITION: Open border with travellers arriving in the UK without any checks or quarantine. operational policies that we can all witness – and possibly even broadcast in the weather forecast on the news every night – so as a community we know exactly where we are going and how those policies are being enacted.

“We would all know what’s coming.”

GOVERNMENT POSITION: Refuses to explain when and how lockdown might end.

Dr Allyson Pollock, a consultant in public health medicine, said that we should be concentrating “above all” on the 400,000 residents of care homes around the country.

“Many of the deaths in nursing homes were preventable, and people dying alone and without relatives is inhumane and barbaric.

“The government could have redeployed staff from quiet bits of the NHS,” she said. GOVERNMENT’S POSITION: Belatedly began supplying care homes with PPE, but support hasn’t included deploying NHS staff.

DR ALLYSON POLLOCK HEALTH CONSULTANT