Chancellor says travel bans ‘are not going to have material effect’ on spread of infections

Britain does not need to follow the US in imposing a ban on flights from Europe as part of its response to the coronavirus pandemic, Rishi Sunak has said.

“The evidence here does not support that,” the chancellor said as he played down the chances of the UK replicating Donald Trump’s move to suspend travel from most EU countries for 30 days. Flights from the UK and Ireland are exempt.

Sunak was speaking the morning after the budget and as Boris Johnson prepared to chair a meeting of the government’s Cobra emergency committee that will consider whether efforts to contain the virus have been exhausted and the UK should move to a new phase to delay its spread.

The health secretary, Matt Hancock, will also meet Labour counterparts later on Thursday to agree a plan to push emergency coronavirus laws through parliament next week.

“With regard to flight bans we are always guided by the science as we make our decisions here. The advice we are getting is that there isn’t evidence that interventions like closing borders or travel bans are going to have a material effect on the spread of the infections,” Sunak told the Today programme on BBC Radio 4.

Quick guide What are coronavirus symptoms and should I go to a doctor? Show Hide What is Covid-19? Covid-19 is caused by a member of the coronavirus family that has never been encountered before. Like other coronaviruses, it has come from animals. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared it a pandemic. What are the symptoms this coronavirus causes? According to the WHO, the most common symptoms of Covid-19 are fever, tiredness and a dry cough. Some patients may also have a runny nose, sore throat, nasal congestion and aches and pains or diarrhoea. Some people report losing their sense of taste and/or smell. About 80% of people who get Covid-19 experience a mild case – about as serious as a regular cold – and recover without needing any special treatment. About one in six people, the WHO says, become seriously ill. The elderly and people with underlying medical problems like high blood pressure, heart problems or diabetes, or chronic respiratory conditions, are at a greater risk of serious illness from Covid-19. In the UK, the National health Service (NHS) has identified the specific symptoms to look for as experiencing either: a high temperature - you feel hot to touch on your chest or back

a new continuous cough - this means you’ve started coughing repeatedly As this is viral pneumonia, antibiotics are of no use. The antiviral drugs we have against flu will not work, and there is currently no vaccine. Recovery depends on the strength of the immune system. Should I go to the doctor if I have a cough? Medical advice varies around the world - with many countries imposing travel bans and lockdowns to try and prevent the spread of the virus. In many place people are being told to stay at home rather than visit a doctor of hospital in person. Check with your local authorities. In the UK, NHS advice is that anyone with symptoms should stay at home for at least 7 days. If you live with other people, they should stay at home for at least 14 days, to avoid spreading the infection outside the home.

The chancellor also acknowledged the impact of coronavirus on the government after two health ministers – Nadine Dorries and Edward Argar – and another unnamed cabinet minister were forced to self-isolate.

But Sunak came under pressure to have a coronavirus test himself after telling the Sky News broadcaster Kay Burley that he had not done so when she suggested that it would be responsible for him to do so.

“Close proximity to that person [Dorries] would be defined as having been in two metres of them for about 15 minutes. Obviously, that is not something that I have done. Otherwise I would have been contacted by Public Health England and had the contact testing.”

Sunak reiterated a promise in Wednesday’s budget to do “whatever it takes” to support households and businesses through the worst of the coronavirus outbreak, as the global health emergency threatened to plunge Britain into a recession and unleash widespread social and economic disruption.

But he also signalled that he would willing to borrow for day-to-day spending to tackle the coronavirus outbreak in the short term.

“We will this year do everything it takes to deal with the immediate challenge, that’s absolutely the right thing to do, that’s the right economic response,” the chancellor told Sky News.

In a far-reaching budget statement placing the government response to the pandemic at its core, Sunak said he was making £12bn of emergency spending available as part of a three-point plan to keep public services running as smoothly as possible as the virus spreads.

Asked about the impact the US flight ban would have on the countries it affected, Sunak told BBC Radio 4: “You are right, as I talked about yesterday, there will be an impact on the demand side of our economy as people are unable to spend in the way that they normally do and travel but it also affects supply chains for business and that impacts the supply side of our economy if those supply chains are disrupted.”