During a response to a virus of this nature, it is
imperative that the public is confident the government has
based its decisions on a representative range of the most
up-to-date science advice. In the case of COVID-19, the
Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE)
has been providing ministers and officials with free and
frank advice throughout, based on external scientific
evidence and a wide source of essential information.
In fast moving situations, transparency should be at the
heart of what the government does.
We have therefore published the statements and the
accompanying evidence to demonstrate how our understanding
of COVID-19 has continued to evolve as new data emerges,
and how SAGE’s
advice has quickly adapted to new findings that reflect a
changing situation.
Government Chief Scientific Adviser Sir :
This is an incredibly fast-moving, developing situation
and as part of our collective efforts to give the
clearest and most reliable scientific
advice, SAGE has
and continues to draw upon a huge range of experts and a
huge range of evidence.
The UK is home to experts who are at the forefront of
their chosen fields and we are making full use of their
expertise to grow our understanding of COVID-19 as we
work tirelessly to tackle this disease.
The collective evidence we have published today has
played a considerable role in shaping our recommendations
on when, how and why the government have made the
interventions it has so far.
Background to SAGE
The Scientific Advisory
Group for Emergencies (SAGE) provides
ministers and officials with evidence-based scientific
advice in emergencies, ensuring government advisers are
informed and best-placed to make critical decisions based
on a range of credible scientific evidence.
The advice provided by SAGE is
one of many essential sources of information that
government weighs up before adopting new policies and
interventions, and gives maximum assurance that the
complexities and implications of any policy have been
properly considered.
SAGE relies
on external science advice, including advice from expert
groups and their papers. In the case of COVID-19, this
includes the New and Emerging
Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG), Scientific Pandemic
Influenza Group on Modelling (SPI-M) in
the Department for Health and Social Care, and the
Independent Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on
Behaviours (SPI-B).
These groups consider the scientific evidence, and provide
their consensus conclusions to SAGE.
Both the evidence they have considered and their consensus
statements have been included in this current batch of
evidence.
The growing evidence base on COVID-19
Contained within this release are the methods and findings
that have informed SAGE advice
on the COVID-19 outbreak to date.
Among the papers referenced here, some are pre-prints.
These are academic papers that have not yet been through
the peer-review process, which can take months, and have
been drawn upon by SAGE to
ensure that the most current evidence is being reviewed in
order to provide rapid advice to policy makers.
Some of the bespoke new modelling that SAGE has
drawn upon to formulate its conclusions has not yet been
published here. This is to allow scientists time to publish
their research through the right academic channels.
As our understanding of the virus grows, we will continue
to feed into the essential scientific advice needed by the
government to respond to the virus. During this time, we
will update these pages with the evidence we are collecting
to keep the public informed, while also continuing to
provide free and frank advice to policy makers.