Health officials are withholding the evidence used by the government when it decided not to follow South Korea’s plan to tackle coronavirus with mass testing.
In February South Korea had the most COVID-19 patients of any country outside China. But the country managed to stop the virus in its tracks with a hardline system of mass testing, contact tracing, isolation and surveillance.
To date, South Korea has had fewer than 300 deaths from the virus. Former minister Greg Clarke, who chairs the Commons science committee, said the decision to reject South Korea’s approach “may be one of the most pivotal decisions made in this pandemic.” He added it was “regrettable and concerning that this evidence is being withheld from the committee”,