Wrt the question you ask at the start of your post, I don't think MM or anyone else here has ever argued that complete prevention of this virus reaching the UK was ever possible or realistic. Most people, I imagine, accepted many weeks ago that it was likely to affect somewhere in the UK at some point; the first confirmed case (as far as I'm aware) was in York just before the end of January.
For me, it should have been about mitigation against the virus rather than prevention of it. That is why I agree with MM in that the govt failed to grasp the chance they had weeks ago to take the lead by putting measures in place wrt restriction of travel between this country and those countries affected by the virus at the time, and screening people returning from overseas when they arrived back at UK airports. This for me would have been no more than basic common sense.
Had steps such as those been taken before the end of January, I honestly don't believe we would now be in anything like as bad a situation as the one we are in now.
Originally Posted by: David M Porter