The married woman with whom U.K. professor (and professed coronavirus expert) Neil Ferguson had an affair, defying the lockdown order he imposed with his doomsday model projection that shut down the world economy, is not sorry for cheating on her family or breaking her country’s mandate.
The woman has been identified as Antonia Staats, 38, whom Fox News billed as a “left-wing campaigner and activist who has a history of criticizing Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Brexit on social media.”
Prior to Ferguson’s resignation from his government advisory position, Staats twice traveled from the home she shares with her husband and two children to visit the professor. According to U.K.’s Telegraph, Staats made the second trip even after telling friends her husband started showing COVID-19 symptoms.
The Daily Mail reports that Staats had an “open marriage” with her husband and that she does not consider her actions hypocritical because she views the two houses as one. Speaking to a podcast, she said the first visit primarily stemmed from the strain the lockdown put on her marriage.
“I think it’s also a strain on – maybe strained has sounded too negative – but it’s an interesting relationship challenge, for Chris [her husband] and my relationship,” she said.
Ferguson, whose Imperial College Study model predicted up to 500,000 deaths in the U.K. and 2.2 million deaths in the U.S. without COVID-19 mitigations, expressed regret for how his actions have undermined social distancing initiatives.
“I accept I made an error of judgment and took the wrong course of action,” Ferguson told The Telegraph on 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.”
“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.”
Matt Hancock, Britain’s health secretary, admitted Wednesday he was left “speechless” and lauded Ferguson for resigning.
As reported by The Daily Wire’s Amanda Prestigiacomo, Ferguson has faced criticism for grossly inflating death toll numbers on virus prediction models.
“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.”
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