Circuit-breaker at top of Sage shortlist three weeks ago

A circuit-breaker was at the top of a shortlist of coronavirus interventions recommended to the Government by expert advisers last month, documents show.

A meeting of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) also agreed that all university teaching should be online unless face-to-face teaching is “absolutely essential”.

The Sage document, dated September 21 and released just hours after the Prime Minister announced his three-tier system of alert levels for England, said a package of interventions will be needed to reverse the exponential rise in cases.

“Single interventions by themselves are unlikely to be able to bring R below one (high confidence),” the document said, before setting out a shortlist of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) that should be considered for “immediate” introduction.

Top of the list is a circuit-breaker, a short period of lockdown, “to return incidence to low levels”, followed by advice to work from home for all those that can.

Third on the list was “banning all contact within the home with members of other households (except members of a support bubble)”, and fourth was the closure of all bars, restaurants, cafes, indoor gyms, and personal services such as hairdressers.

The final measure on the list was that all university and college teaching “to be online unless face-to-face teaching is absolutely essential”.

Attendees of the September 21 meeting, held via Zoom, included the Government’s chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance and chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty.

The document says that both local and national measures are needed, adding: “Measures should not be applied in too specific a geographical area.”

On Monday evening, Sage scientist Professor Calum Semple warned the new restrictions announced by the PM had come too late and a “circuit-breaker” could be needed within weeks.

Asked if the level of response announced for London is sufficient for the threat, the University of Liverpool academic told BBC Radio 4’s PM: “I’m going to be difficult and say no, I think we’re a little late to react.”

He said there is a three-to-four-week delay before interventions see benefits in hospitals.

“I and other people who were advocating for quite stringent severe local interventions where necessary three to four weeks ago, our fear is now that we’re in another place now,” he said.

“And that we’re going to need a much firmer intervention perhaps, the so-called circuit-breaker, in the matter of weeks.

“The outbreak is a bit like a super-tanker, you put the brakes on but it takes a long time before you see the effect.”