Professor Neil Ferguson Quits as a Government Adviser After He Disobeyed the Lockdown Rules

Professor Neil Ferguson whose advice helped the UK government on its coronavirus’s strategy lockdown resigned as a government adviser on Tuesday, after it was reported he disobeyed the lockdown rules he modelled, by entertaining his lover at his residence.

Neil Morris Ferguson, who is a professor of mathematical biology and a British epidemiologist at Imperial College, London, specializes in the pattern of the spread of infectious diseases in humans and animals.

The 52-years-old man is currently known for the Mathematical modelling of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom and several other mathematical modellings done years back; the 2001 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak, the swine flu outbreak in 2009 in the UK, the 2012 Middle East respiratory syndrome and the Ebola epidemic in Western Africa in 2016.

The British man is the head of the Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology in the School of Public Health and the Vice-Dean for Academic Development in the faculty of medicine at the Imperial College, London.

However, in a statement on Tuesday, Professor Ferguson said he accepted he made “an error of judgment and took the wrong course of action.” He would be resigning his post on the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage).

“I acted in the belief that I was immune, having tested positive for coronavirus and completely isolated myself for almost two weeks after developing symptoms,” he said.

“I deeply regret any undermining of the clear messages around the continued need for social distancing to control this devastating epidemic.”
“The government guidance is unequivocal, and is there to protect all of us,” Ferguson said.

Professor Neil’s married lover, Antonia Staats, is believed to work for an activism organization and had visited his lover at least two times; on 30 March and 8 April during the lockdown period, which was revealed by the next-door-neighbors.

The visit contradicts the government’s “movement restrictions to save lives” advice, which urges everyone to remain indoors and avoid social gatherings.

The scientist resigned, which was confirmed by a government representative, and there was no further comment.
Moreover, Imperial College, London, released a statement that says Ferguson “continues to focus on his important research.”