Matt Hancock defends UK government's handling of covid variant
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Health Secretary Matt Hancock broke his silence on these accusations and said it was 'completely wrong' to suggest that the government could have acted faster.
As the country reopens, the UK government has now come out to fight the criticism against the administration’s handling of the deadly variant of coronavirus, B1.617.2, which was first found in India.
Many alleged that the government was too slow to impose travel restrictions towards India which led to an increase in cases in the UK.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock broke his silence on these accusations and said it was “completely wrong” to suggest that the government could have acted faster.
Under the travel restrictions on India, the South Asian country was put under “red list” due to which any traveller entering the UK had to go through compulsory hotel quarantine.
Hancock, however, explained that India was subjected to travel restrictions back in April when the variant was still under investigation.
He also blasted the opposition party’s accusations of putting India and Bangladesh on red list before India. The opposition leaders believe India was not out on the red list as Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, wanted to complete his visit to India first.
However, Hancock has dismissed these claims and said “we take these decisions based on the evidence”.
His defense has come as the country is slowly returning back to normalcy, with people now allowed to dine outdoors, indoors and even hug each other.