Professor Neil Ferguson, the epidemiologist behind the highly-cited novel coronavirus doomsday model from London Imperial College, resigned Tuesday after allegedly breaking lockdown rules to meet with his married lover.
Ferguson, whose model triggered U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson to enforce lockdown, “resigned from his Government advisory position on Tuesday night as The Telegraph can reveal he broke social distancing rules to meet his married lover,” The Telegraph reported Tuesday.
“Professor Neil Ferguson allowed the woman to visit him at home during the lockdown while lecturing the public on the need for strict social distancing in order to reduce the spread of coronavirus. The woman lives with her husband and their children in another house,” the report said.
On at least two separate occasions, 38-year-old Antonia Staats, Ferguson’s alleged married lover, left her home and traveled across London to meet up with the government scientist.
“The 51-year-old had only just finished a two-week spell self-isolating after testing positive for coronavirus,” according to The Telegraph.
“I accept I made an error of judgment and took the wrong course of action,” Ferguson told the outlet Tuesday. “I have therefore stepped back from my involvement in Sage [the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies].”
“I acted in the belief that I was immune, having tested positive for coronavirus, and completely isolated myself for almost two weeks after developing symptoms,” he continued.
“I deeply regret any undermining of the clear messages around the continued need for social distancing to control this devastating epidemic,” the scientist added. “The Government guidance is unequivocal, and is there to protect all of us.”
Ferguson’s coronavirus modeling projected 2.2 million deaths in the United States and 500,000 in the U.K. without mitigation, triggering PM Johnson to abandon so-called “herd immunity” strategy.
The Imperial model has also been favorably cited by Dr. Deborah Birx, a leading voice in the United States’ White House coronavirus task force team.
Ferguson has been widely criticized, not only for his steep COVID projections, but past outlandish projections, too.
“In 2009, one of Ferguson’s models predicted 65,000 people could die from the Swine Flu outbreak in the UK — the final figure was below 500,” Business Insider noted, adding, “Michael Thrusfield, a professor of veterinary epidemiology at Edinburgh University, told the paper he had ‘déjà vu’ after reading the Imperial paper, saying Ferguson was responsible for excessive animal culling during the 2001 Foot and Mouth outbreak. Ferguson warned the government that 150,000 people could die. Six million animals were slaughtered as a precaution, costing the country billions in farming revenue. In the end, 200 people died.”
Moreover, others have criticized Ferguson “for reportedly overestimating the potential death toll in the 2005 Bird Flu outbreak,” The Daily Wire noted. “Ferguson allegedly estimated 200 million could die, but the actual total was reportedly less than 1,000.”
Related: Leading Swedish Epidemiologist Slams British Scientist Whose Paper Triggered Worldwide Lockdowns: ‘Normally Quite Arrogant’
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