AROUND 18million people were let into Britain from coronavirus-hit countries without any screening as the pandemic gripped the world.
Shocking figures from the Home Office reveal just 273 travellers from virus ground zero Wuhan and Tokyo were forced to self-isolate after entering the UK.
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They came in on four flights from Wuhan and Tokyo in January and February as the virus spread across the world.
But between January and March 23 – when lockdown came into force – more than 18million entered Britain without screening for the deadly disease, the Guardian reports.
Although the figures include arrivals from all destinations, the Home Office believes tens of thousands of these would come from countries more affected by the disease.
Labour MP and member of the Home Affairs Select Committee, Stephen Doughty, told the newspaper: "The admission that just four flights from two locations, barely a few hundred individuals – out of literally millions of arrivals – were formally quarantined while the pandemic was already raging in a series of locations beggars belief.
“On what scientific basis were a handful of flights from Wuhan and one from a Tokyo singled out for extreme attention? But not a single flight from Northern Italy, Spain or the US?
“The fact that many of these people then likely arrived and travelled onwards across the UK with little or no adherence to social distancing, and with no checks or protections at the border – barely a whiff of hand sanitiser – is deeply disturbing. Let alone the arrival of 3,000 fans from Madrid as the pandemic picked up speed.
“Yet arrivals continue to this day – with no formal quarantine requirements. It is simply staggering. Who made these decisions? And on what basis?”
More to follow…
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