More than 1,000 individual cases of Covid-19 were introduced to the UK from abroad during the first wave of the pandemic scientists have found.
The highest number of transmission chains during the first half of 2020 were from Europe. 33% came from Spain, 29% from France and 12% from Italy.
China, the source of the virus, only accounted for 0.4% of the introduction of transmission chains. The study was published in the journal Science, where researchers said earlier travel and quarantine interventions could have helped reduce the intensity of the UK’s first wave.
Professor Oliver Pybus, from the University of Oxford's Department of Zoology, is co-lead author on the study. He said: "This study shows that it's possible to trace individual