"I made an error in judgment" . This is how Professor Neil Ferguson, head of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Scientific Council for Emergencies, SAGE), qualified his companion's visits to his home, despite the confinement. He then resigned.
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Antonia Staats crossed London twice on March 30 and April 8 to find him at home. Yet it was the Scientific Council headed by the epidemiologist who persuaded the British government to impose strict confinement and physical distancing measures to fight the coronavirus, explains the Guardian, who quotes the Daily Telegraph . According to friends of the couple, Neil Ferguson and Antonia Staats would not have seen any problem finding each other because they considered themselves to belong to the same household.
"I acted thinking I was immune"
“I admit that I made an error in judgment and adopted the wrong course of action. So I ended my action within SAGE ” , he announced on Tuesday. "I acted on the assumption that I was immune, since I had tested positive for coronavirus and had completely isolated myself for almost two weeks after developing symptoms," he said, adding "Deeply regret any discredit to the clear message relating to the need to observe a social distancing to stem this devastating epidemic" . "The direction taken by the government is unequivocal, and it was taken to protect us ," he concluded.
Regarding separated couples, the government had indicated that it was preferable that the two partners do not see each other for the entire duration of the confinement and remain at home, recalls the Guardian, who said that the epidemiologist had become a familiar face for the British, regularly intervening in the media to explain the decisions taken by the authorities.
