Boris Johnson received advice from Sweden’s chief epidemiologist who devised the country’s controversial approach to coronavirus – just days before announcing new restrictions in an attempt to combat surging infections.
According to The Spectator, Anders Tegnell attended a virtual discussion, hosted by No 10 alongside other scientists, with both the prime minister and chancellor Rishi Sunak in attendance.
On Thursday, Downing Street confirmed Mr Johnson had received the briefing on Sunday, with the prime minister’s official spokesman adding: “The PM has canvassed a wide variety of scientific opinion over the course of the weekend and it was part of that discussion.”
It comes after Mr Johnson’s new measures, including a 10pm curfew on pubs, restaurants and bars, were criticised by a member of the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) for not going far enough.
The country instead placed emphasis on personal responsibility to socially distance and kept shops, bars and restaurants open. According to the European Centre for Disease Control, Sweden, a country with a population of 10 million, has recorded 5,800 Covid-19 deaths so far.
The latest figures also show, as of 24 September, Sweden has a 14-day cumulative number of cases of 36.8 per 100,000, compared to 81.8 in the UK and 28.7 in neighbouring country Norway.
Speaking on Wednesday, scientist Carl Heneghan – director of the Centre for Evidence Based Medicine at Oxford University – claimed “a shift in policy” was emerging from the government with the latest restrictions outlined by the prime minister.
Mr Heneghan, who was also reported to have attended the No 10 meeting, told the BBC: “If you look at some of the policies, what you’re starting to see is a move towards Sweden. When you look at bars and restaurants, that’s the policy there – they have table service.”
And in his address to the nation earlier this week, the prime minister made clear he was still considering the prospect of a second lockdown, adding: “If people don’t follow the rules we have set out, then we must reserve the right to go further”.
Pressed on the government’s approach by BBC Radio 4’s Today programme and whether the Mr Johnson had “lost faith” in chief medical officer Chris Whitty following reports No 10 had consulted with Sweden’s virus expert, Matt Hancock, said: “No, on the contrary I listened to your programme yesterday… [it] included both John Edmunds and Carl Heneghan – two scientists, both of whom I rate – one arguing that we were doing too much and one arguing that we weren’t doing enough.”
The health secretary added: “So that’s what I always talk about being guided by the science because there are reasonable disagreements between scientists and the role of Chris Whitty as chief medical officer is to try to synthesise all that scientific advice and present what he thinks is the best possible scientific analysis and then we take decisions based on that advice.
“And of course listening to voices right across the board, it’s only natural that we should.”
“We can only hope that this is a blip, that the spread start decreasing again. That depends on how well we follow the guidelines.”
