Covid-19 Expert Advising British Government’s Response Self-Isolates After Cough And Fever

Topline: An infectious diseases expert whose recent coronavirus study prompted a dramatic turnaround in the British government’s response, and who attended a press conference by Boris Johnson on Monday, is self-isolating after presenting with symptoms of the illness.

• Professor Neil Ferguson, an epidemiologist who led the eye-opening Imperial College study that found that self-isolation among the British public might have to last 18 months, told the BBC he was feeling “pretty grotty”.
• Ferguson tweeted on Wednesday morning: “Sigh. Developed a slight dry but persistent cough yesterday and self isolated even though I felt fine. Then developed high fever at 4am today. There is a lot of COVID-19 in Westminster.”
• He later told BBC Radio 4 that he developed symptoms on Tuesday, and self-isolated in his London flat. “I’ve been in so many meetings in the last few weeks and a number of my colleagues who have been advising colleagues in those meetings have also developed symptoms,” he added.
• Symptoms of Covid-19 include the above, as well as muscle pain, shortness of breath, and in more serious cases, kidney failure, pneumonia and death, according to the World Health Organization.
• He attended a Downing Street press conference on Monday, in which Johnson told Brits to avoid non-essential duties.

Key background: A handful of British lawmakers are self-isolating after developing symptoms or testing positive for coronavirus, including health minister Nadine Dorries, who was said to have held a number of meetings in Westminster and with constituents before testing positive. The median incubation period for Covid-19 is around five days, according to a study led by scientists at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, meaning the disease has the potential to be passed on unknowingly. The virus is believed to be transmitted through cough and sneeze droplets from an infected person.

Tangent: Ferguson’s study found that Britain’s early “mitigation” strategy to slow the spread of Covid-19 could have led to the deaths of 250,000 people, and that social distancing measures may have to last until a vaccine is approved—which is likely 18 months away. The study prompted Johnson’s government to switch tack, from advising that only affected people and their families self-isolate, to introducing sweeping restrictions, including advising against going to pubs, bars restaurants, and working from home where possible.