Study Finds COVID-19 was brought into UK by 1,300 Travellers from Europe

A major study published today has revealed that COVID-19 was introduced into the UK on at least 1,356 occasions by travellers mainly from Europe.

Researchers from the University of Oxford, University of Edinburgh and the COVID-19 Genomics UK Consortium (COG-UK) found that Spain and France were the countries most travelers carrying the disease entered the UK  from.

Surprisingly, the analysis found that China, where coronavirus originated, has less than 1% impact on cases in the UK.

Researchers estimated that 80% of all those who came to the UK and spread COVID-19 arrived between 28 February and 29 March. This was at the point when the UK was debating whether to halt international travel and go into lockdown.

The study also showed that 50% of arrivals in the UK during the same period, were British nationals.