On Wednesday, The Daily Beast reported that Neil Ferguson, the Imperial College professor who headed up the study warning that 2.2 million people could die in the United States if harsh social distancing protocols are not adopted, has symptoms of coronavirus:

Sigh. Developed a slight dry but persistent cough yesterday and self isolated even though I felt fine. Then developed high fever at 4am today. There is a lot of COVID-19 in Westminster. — neil_ferguson (@neil_ferguson) March 18, 2020

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Ferguson’s report was a key factor in both the White House and the British parliament adopting more draconian measures to contain the virus, after both countries had previously been taking the risk less seriously.