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.
