UK scientist who recommended Coronavirus lockdown resigns after personally violating the lockdown

Professor Neil Ferguson. BBC.

Neil Ferguson, a professor that recommended lockdowns in the United Kingdom, has resigned from his advisory post in the government after it was revealed that he had violated the lockdown in order to visit his married girlfriend. BBC. Ferguson's modeling was a major reason why the United Kingdom decided to impose a lockdown after he said that as many as 250,000 people there could die if the government continued it's "herd immunity" effort. Ferguson is a world renowned disease modeler and is partially responsible for lockdowns as a strategy for dealing with the Coronavirus. Ferguson said that he violated the order on the idea that he was immune since tested positive and had recovered from the disease.

My Comment:

This story is strange. I do think it's pretty hilarious that the guy that came up with the idea of lockdowns to fight the Coronavirus couldn't even follow his own advice. Ferguson embodies the idea of rules for thee but not for me. 

I do have to say though, I do think it's pretty ridiculous that people who have recovered to still have to follow lockdown orders. They are no longer at risk for catching the disease and are a lot less likely to spread the disease to others. 

Rand Paul was attacked today for basically the same thing. He rightly pointed out that since he recovered from the disease he is fine to walk around with out a mask. There is no evidence that people can be reinfected with the Coronavirus after they have been infected and recovered. It may happen after a few years but it's very clear that you do get immunity after you recover from the disease. 

But I do think what Ferguson did was a bit worse. I don't think Ferguson is on record for saying that people that have recovered can move about freely. He is demanding that people stay home and he won't even do the same thing. 

I also think it's probably worse that what he was doing was pretty awful to begin with. This isn't just a scandal about the Coronavirus, it's a sex scandal. His girlfriend is a married woman so this is an affair as well. That alone might have been enough to force his resignation. 

Does this undermine the idea of lockdowns? Kinda. If the guy that came up with the idea, for the UK at least, can't even follow the simple instructions, how can we expect that normal people do the same? People are social animals and they will ignore these lockdowns if they go on long enough. 

That being said, I do think that Ferguson's initial plan may have been necessary. The herd immunity strategy they were trying wasn't working, largely because the hospital system was being overwhelmed. Locking down the UK probably saved some lives but now that the infections are slowing it might be time to open things up.