THE government did not ask Sage to model the impact of Boris Johnson’s decision to lift all coronavirus restrictions, a member of the scientific advisory group has revealed. 

Ministers were accused of “borderline negligence” today for dropping all restrictions without considering the potential impact. 

The damning revelation emerged during a meeting of the all-party parliamentary group on coronavirus on Tuesday. 

Asked by MPs what the impact of lifting self-isolation rules would be on virus transmissions, epidemiologist and Sage member John Edmunds responded: “It will help to spread the virus. It’s inevitable you will get more infection as a result of that. 

“The issue is just how much. We haven’t modelled it. We weren’t asked to model it. It’s not an easy question to answer.”

Last month, the Prime Minister scrapped all coronavirus restrictions, including the legal requirement to self-isolate if people test positive. The public are still advised to follow self-isolation guidance. 

Universal free testing will also end on April 1. 

Group chairwoman Layla Moran said: “For the government to make a serious public health decision without consideration of  the potential impacts is borderline negligent.

“The removal of restrictions should be accompanied by vigilance and support for those who most need it, like the clinically extremely vulnerable. Instead, we have a mad dash from the government to act as if Covid does not exist.”

A government spokesperson said that ministers has received recent advice from Sage and its subgroups on medium-term projections of the pandemic’s trajectory of the pandemic, based in the assumption that there are no policy or behavioural changes in future.