The report said government attempts to limit the spread of the virus would have proved more successful if it had not made the “serious mistake” of failing to impose quarantine restrictions on international arrivals.
The report produced by The House of Commons’ Home Affairs Select Committee, which is responsible for examining the policies of the Home Office, states: “The COVID-19 pandemic in the U.K. was accelerated in the early months by critical errors in the Government’s approach to border measures which led to many more people contracting COVID-19.”
It added that ministers had underestimated the threat of importing the virus from Europe as opposed to Asia.
In the U.S., President Trump recently defended his decision to impose travel bans in February, rather than just quarantines, on those coming into the country from China as well as a ban on foreign nationals from 26 European countries in the Schengen zone, where people can move freely.
Although returning U.S. nationals were exempt, Trump claims the restrictions may have helped save millions of lives.
While the British report did back a decision not to wholly close the U.K.’s borders, because of the “large number” of British nationals returning from overseas, it says earlier action could have saved lives.
Chair of the Committee Rt Hon Yvette Cooper MP said: “COVID-19 is a global pandemic, so all countries need to be able to use border measures at different times to prevent it spreading and to save lives – the consequences of failing to do so are very serious for both public health and the economy.
“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 U.K. was almost unique in having no border checks or quarantine arrangements at that time. That alone should have rung loud alarm bells for ministers and made them think again.”
The report added that the requirement for people arriving from certain countries to quarantine, which was introduced in early June, should have come in earlier.
The MPs on the committee also criticized the decision on March 13 to remove all self-isolation guidance for travelers arriving in the U.K. at a time when other countries were strengthening border measures, and when hundreds of new COVID cases were arriving every day, including from Spain, Italy and France, with many British residents returning home.
A Home Office spokeswoman said the committee was incorrect in its claims.
They said: “All of our decisions throughout the pandemic have been guided by the science, with appropriate measures introduced at the right time to keep us all safe.”
