Public request to take stronger measures of social
distancing across the UK with immediate effect
14th March 2020
(last update: 14th March 2020, 15:25)
As scientists living and working in the UK, we would like to express our concern
about the course of action announced by the Government on 12th March 2020
regarding the Coronavirus outbreak. In particular, we are deeply preoccupied
by the timeline of the proposed plan, which aims at delaying social distancing
measures even further.
The current data about the number of infections in the UK is in line with the
growth curves already observed in other countries, including Italy, Spain, France,
and Germany [1]. The same data suggests that the number of infected will be in
the order of dozens of thousands within a few days.
Under unconstrained growth, this outbreak will aect millions of people in the
next few weeks. This will most probably put the NHS at serious risk of not
being able to cope with the flow of patients needing intensive care, as the number
of ICU beds in the UK is not larger than that available in other neighbouring
countries with a similar population [2]. Going for "herd immunity" at this point
does not seem a viable option, as this will put NHS at an even stronger level of
stress, risking many more lives than necessary.
By putting in place social distancing measures now, the growth can be slowed
down dramatically, and thousands of lives can be spared. We consider the social
distancing measures taken as of today as insucient, and we believe that addi-
tional and more restrictive measures should be taken immediately, as it is already
happening in other countries across the world.
We urge anyone who has sympathy with our views, and access to the govern-
ment strategy group, to make our concerns more widely known.
Signatories:
1. David Arrowsmith, Professor of Mathematics, Complex Systems, Queen Mary University of London
2. Christian Beck, Professor of Applied Mathematics, Dynamical Systems, Queen Mary University of London
3. Martin Benning, Lecturer in Optimisation, Complex Systems, Queen Mary University of London
4. Ginestra Bianconi, Professor of Applied Mathematics, Complex Systems, Queen Mary University of London
5. Jamie Grin, Lecturer in Applied Probability, Queen Mary University of London
6. Weini Huang, Lecturer in Mathematical Biology, Complex Systems, Queen Mary University of London
7. Vito Latora, Professor of Applied Mathematics, Chair of Complex Systems, Queen Mary University of
London
8. Vincenzo Nicosia, Lecturer in Networks and Data Analysis, Complex Systems, Queen Mary University of
London
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9. Thomas Prellberg, Professor of Mathematics, Dynamical Systems, Queen Mary University of London
10. Nicola Perra, Associate Professor in Network Science, University of Greenwhich
11. Giacomo Livan, Lecturer in Computer Science, Financial Computing & Analytics, University College London
12. Henrik Jeldtoft Jensen, Professor of Mathematical Physics, Imperial College London
13. BenjaminWerner, Lecturer, Centre for Cancer Genomics and Computational Biology, Barts Cancer Institute,
Queen Mary University of London
14. Iacopo Iacopini, PhD Student, Complex Systems, Queen Mary University of London
15. Andrea Baronchelli, Reader in Mathematics, City University of London
16. Sarah Morgan, Research Fellow, Cambridge University
17. Vahid Shahrezaei, Reader in Biomathematics, Imperial College London
18. Guven Demirel, Lecturer in Supply Chain Management, Queen Mary University of London
19. Arick Shao, Senior Lecturer in Mathematics, Queen Mary University of London
20. Erminia Calabrese, Professor in Astronomy, Cardi University
21. Arianna Bottinelli, Associate Editor, Communications Physics, SpringerNature London
22. Ivan Tomasic, Senior Lecturer in Pure Mathematics, Queen Mary University of London
23. Francesco Coghi, PhD Student in Mathematics, Queen Mary University of London
24. Hanlin Sun, PhD student in Mathematics, Queen Mary University of London
25. Marta Varela, Research Fellow, National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London
26. Ronaldo Menezes, Professor of Data and Network Science, University of Exeter
27. Kirstie Whitaker, Turing Research Fellow, Alan Turing Institute; Senior research associate in Psychiatry,
University of Cambridge
28. Naomi Arnold, PhD student in Computer Science, Queen Mary University of London
29. Petra Vertes, Lecturer in Psychiatry, Systems and Computational Neuroscience, University of Cambridge
30. Dudley Stark, Reader in Mathematics and Probability, Queen Mary University of London
31. Thomas W. Mueller, Professor of Mathematics, Queen Mary University of London
32. Tiziana Di Matteo, Professor of Econophysics, King's College London
33. Silvia Grigolon, Postdoctoral Fellow, The Francis Crick Institute London
34. Francesca Arrigo, Lecturer in Mathematics, University of Strathclyde
35. Gianmichele Di Matteo, PhD Student, Queen Mary University of London
36. Sasha Sodin, Professor in Analysis and Mathematical Physics, Queen Mary University of London
37. Professor Rajendra Bhansali, Emeritus Professor in Mathematics, University of Liverpool and Visiting Professor
in Mathematics, Imperial College London
38. Bingzhang Chen, Lecturer in Mathematics, University of Strathclyde
39. Demetrios T. Papageorgiou, Professor in Mathematics, Imperial College London
40. Stuart Scott, Centre for Human Computer Interaction Design, City University of London
41. Deatrice Vincenzi, PhD Student, City University of London
42. Vessela Vassileva, Department is Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London
43. Bill Jackson, Professor of Mathematical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London
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44. Yi Sui, Reader in Fluid Mechanics, Queen Mary University of London
45. Penny Davies, Senior Lecturer in Mathematics, University of Strathclyde
46. Dugald B Duncan, Professor of Mathematics, Heriot-Watt University
47. Evangelos Mitsokapas, PhD Student, Dynamical Systems, Queen Mary University of London
48. Haris Markakis, Lecturer in Numerical Relativity, Queen Mary University of London
49. Michael Grinfeld, Reader in Mathematics and Statistics, University of Strathclyde
50. Marco Pietropaoli, Research associate, Imperial College London
51. Caterina Gennaioli, Senior Lecturer in Economics, Queen Mary University of London
52. Franco Vivaldi, Emeritus Professor in Mathematics, Queen Mary University of London
53. Timothy Neate, Researcher, Centre for HCI Design, City University of London
54. Silvia Liverani, Reader in Statistics, Queen Mary University of London
55. Marcus Waurick, Chancellor's Fellow, University of Strathclyde
56. Ernesto Priego, Centre for HCDI, City University of London
57. Lidia Gomes Da Silva, PhD Student, Queen Mary University of London
58. Silvia Rognone, PhD Student, Complex Systems, Queen Mary University of London
59. Radu Cimpeanu, Assistant Professor in Applied Mathematics, University of Warwick
60. Aleix Bassolas, Researcher in Complex Systems, Queen Mary University of London
61. Stephen J. Cowley, Senior Lecturer in Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge
62. Esther Mondragon, Lecturer in Articial Intelligence, City University of London
63. Andrea Santoro, PhD in Mathematics, Queen Mary University of London
64. Gabriele Di Bona PhD. Student in Complex Systems, Queen Mary University of London
65. Juan A. Valiente Kroon, Reader in Applied Mathematics, Queen Mary University of London
66. Magnus Haughey, PhD student in Mathematical Biology, Queen Mary University of London
67. Giorgio Savini, Director of the University College London Observatory (UCLO), University College London
68. Ralph Kenna, Professor of Theoretical Physics, Centre for Fluid and Complex Systems, Coventry University
69. Pierpaolo Vivo, Senior Lecturer in Disordered Systems, King's College London
70. Dmitry Savin, Senior Lecturer in Applied Mathematics, Brunel University London
71. Luca Maria Aiello, Senior Research Scientist, Nokia Bell Labs, Cambridge.
72. Zacharoula Nikolakopoulou, Research Associate, Department of Immunology and In
ammation, Imperial
College London
73. Pawel Dlotko, Senior Lecturer in Mathematics, Swansea University
74. Michael Garcia Ortiz, Lecturer, City University of London
75. Biagio Lucini, Royal SocietyWolfson Merit Award Holder, Head of Mathematics, College of Science, Swansea
University
76. Ernesto Jimenez-Ruiz, Lecturer in Articial Intelligence, City University of London
77. Peter Bishop, Professor of Systems and Software Dependability, City University of London
78. Alberto Bracci, Phd Student, City University of London
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79. Carla Molteni, Professor of Physics, Director of Thomas Young Centre, King's College London
80. Jerey Giansiracusa, Professor of Mathematics, Swansea University
81. Dmitri Panov, Reader in Geometry, King's College London
82. Vaibhav Kumar Jena, PhD student in Mathematics, Queen Mary University of London
83. Rebecca Cliord, DPhil, FRHistS, FHEA, Associate Professor of Modern History, Swansea University
84. Luka Ilic, PhD student in Mathematics, Queen Mary University of London
85. Hermes Gadelha, Senior Lecturer in Applied Mathematics and Data Modelling, University of Bristol
86. Pietro Lio, Professor, University of Cambridge
87. Eduardo Alonso, Reader in Computing, City University of London
88. Salvatore Danilo Riccio, PhD Student in Complex Systems, Queen Mary University of London
89. Andrea Tangherloni, Research Associate at the Department of Haematology, University of Cambridge
90. Salpie Nowinski, Postdoctural research assistant in computational biology and tumour evolution, Barts
Cancer Institute
91. Marco Gramatica, PhD student in Mathematics, Queen Mary University of London
92. Pierre Degond, Chair Professor in Applied Mathematics, Imperial College London
93. Michael Bronstein, PhD, FIEEE, FIAPR, Professor of Computing, Imperial College London
94. Dr Georgios Nteliopoulos, Senior research associate, Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College
London
95. Daniele Quercia, Department Head, Nokia Bell Labs, Cambridge
96. Oliver Ratmann, Lecturer in Statistics, Imperial College London
97. Tiago Azevedo, PhD student in Computer Science, University of Cambridge
98. Veronica Vinciotti, Reader in Mathematics, Brunel University London
99. Vitaliy Kurlin, Senior Lecturer in Computer Science, University of Liverpool.
100. Martin Weigel, Reader in Theoretical Physics, Centre for Fluid and Complex Systems, Coventry University
101. Thomas P. Sotiriou, Professor of Gravitational Physics, School of Mathematical Sciences & School of Physics
and Astronomy, University of Nottingham
102. Francesca Baletto, Reader in Physics, King's College London
103. Istvan Z. Kiss, Professor of Mathematics, University of Sussex
104. John Harvey, Daphne Jackson Research Fellow, Department of Mathematics, Swansea University
105. Sarah Barry, Lecturer in Statistics, University of Strathclyde
106. Sandro Sousa, PhD Student, Complex Systems, Queen Mary University of London
107. Antonino Iannazzo, PhD student, Queen Mary University of London
108. Luc Berthouze, Professor of Complex Systems, University of Sussex
109. Mirna Dzamonja, Professor of Mathematics, University of East Anglia
110. Pablo Lamata, Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow in Basic Biomedical Science
111. Jean-Marc Vanden-Broeck, Professor of Applied Mathematics, University College London
112. Ben Murray, Senior Research Associate, King's College London
113. Aleksandra Ivovic, PhD student in Biological Sciences, University of Cambridge
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114. Andreas Fring, Professor of Mathematical Physics, City University of London
115. Cristina Inversi, Lecturer in Employment Law, The University of Manchester
116. Luigi Margiotta-Casaluci, Lecturer in Pharmacology and Toxicology, Brunel University London
117. Maria Laura Greco , PhD student in Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical sciences, University of Manchester
118. Paul Expert, Research Associate, Global Digital Health unit, Imperial College London
119. Ignazio Puccio, Honorary Research Associate, University College London
120. Dr. Giovanna Campopiano, Senior Lecturer, Lancaster University Management School
121. Anita Lavorgna, Associate Professor, University of Southampton
122. Richard A.I. Bethlehem, Post-Doctoral Fellow Research Associate, British Academy and University of Cambridge
123. Anna Pacelli, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Oxford
124. Ramona Lattao, Postdoctoral Research Associate in Genetics, University of Cambridge
125. Francesca Dal Mas, Lecturer in Strategy & Enterprise, The University of Lincoln
126. William Schafer, Programme Leader in Neurobiology, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, University of
Cambridge; Professor of Animal Physiology and Neuriobiology, KU Leuven
127. Shahn Majid, Professor of Mathematics, Queen Mary University of London
128. Sarah K. Buddenborg, Postdoctoral Fellow, Wellcome Sanger Institute
129. Dr Chris Cantwell, Senior Lecturer in Aeronautics, Imperial College London
130. Daniele Petrone PhD student in Mathematics, Queen Mary University of London
131. Yue Ren, UKRI Future Leaders Fellow and Senior Lecturer, Swansea University
132. Igor Smolyarenko, Lecturer in Applied Mathematics, Brunel University London
133. Alessia Annibale, Senior Lecturer in Disordered Systems, King's College London
134. Denise Walker, Senior Scientist, Neurobiology, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge
135. Dr Demetra Andreou, Principal Academic in Environmental Science, Bournemouth University
136. Professor Aris Katzourakis, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford; Co-President of Oxford UCU
137. Giorgio Jansen, Research Assistant, University of Cambridge
138. Dario Leonardo Balacco, Posdoctoral Research Fellow, Institute of Clinical Sciences, University of Birmingham
139. Jasna Urbancic, PhD Student in Mathematics, Queen Mary University of London
140. Francesco Mezzadri, Professor of Mathematical Physics, University of Bristol
141. James A. R. Marshall, Professor of Theoretical and Computational Biology, University of Sheeld
142. Daria Santone, PDRA, Physics Department, Royal Holloway, University of London
143. Lucia Sivilotti, AJ Clark Professor of Pharmacology, University College London
144. Matteo Salvalaglio, Lecturer, Department of Chemical Engineering, University College London
145. Henri Huijberts PFHEA FIMA, Professor of Engineering Science and Education, Deputy Dean for Education,
Queen Mary University of London
146. Giorgia Dalla Libera Marchiori, Research assistant in Infectious Diseases, London School of Hygiene &
Tropical Medicine
147. Anja Meyer, PhD student in Pure Mathematics, University of Manchester
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148. Rui Carvalho, Assistant Professor, Department of Engineering Durham University
149. Cesare Giulio Ardito, PhD Student
150. Luca Cocconi, PhD student, Imperial College London and Francis Crick Institute
151. Kane Smith, Research Technician, Queen Mary University of London
152. Laura Coroneo, Senior Lecturer, Department of Economics and Related Studies University of York
153. Dragana Vuckovic, PostDoctoral Fellow in Biostatistics, Sanger Institute, Cambridge
154. Sebastian Ahnert, Cavendish Laboratory and Sainsbury Laboratory, University of Cambridge
155. Leslie Turner, Lecturer in Evolution, Milner Centre for Evolution, Department of Biology and Biochemistry,
University of Bath
156. Francesca Di Lodovico, Professor of Physics, King's College London
157. Francesco Di Lauro, PhD student in Mathematics, University of Sussex
158. Katerina Zahradova, PhD student in Mathematics, University of London
159. Lavinia Rognone, PhD student, University of Manchester
160. Ana Jimena Pacheco Gutierrez, PhD student, Queen Mary University of London
161. Virginia M Howick, Wellcome Sanger Institute
162. Ana Riesgo, The Natural History Museum
163. Rainer Klages, Reader in Applied Mathematics, Queen Mary University of London
164. Gianluca Inverso, Marie Curie Fellow, Centre for Research in String Theory, Queen Mary University of
London
165. Gioia Boschi, PhD student, King's College London
166. Karin van Veldhoven, Assistant professor in Molecular Epidemiology London School of Hygiene & Tropical
Medicine
167. Stephanie Lo, Principal Bioinformatician & Project Manager, Wellcome Sanger Institute
168. Riccardo Guareschi, Computational Chemist in Drug Design, University of Dundee, registered Scottish
Charity, No: SC015096
169. Jimmy Lee, Postdoctoral Fellow, Wellcome Sanger Institute
170. Giorgio Carugno, PhD Student, King's College London
171. Gos Micklem, Reader, Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge
172. Chris Micklem, PhD Student, Sainsbury Laboratory/Department of Physics, University of Cambridge
173. Peng He, Postdoctoral Fellow, Sanger Institute
174. Stanley Wai-Kwong Ng, Postdoctoral Fellow, Cancer, aging, and somatic mutations programme, Cancer
genome project, Wellcome Sanger Institute
175. Max Falkenberg, PhD Student, Center for Complexity Science, Imperial College London
176. Hui Zhang, Post-doctoral Researcg Assistant, Queen Mary University of London
177. Kirsty Wanm, Senior Research Fellow/Senior Lecturer, Living Systems Institute & Department of Mathematics,
University of Exeter
178. Rosana Collepardo-Guevara, Winton Advanced Research Fellow (Group Leader) Departments of Physics,
Chemistry and Genetics, University of Cambridge
179. Anne Bishop, Post-doctoral Research Fellow, Welcome Sanger Institute, Cambridge
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Distinguished international signatories:
1. Steven H. Strogatz, Jacob Gould Schurman Professor of Applied Mathematics, Cornell University
2. Albert-Laszlo Barabasi, Robert Gray Dodge Professor of Network Science, Northeastern University, USA;
Department of Medicine at Harvard Medical School
3. Yamir Moreno, Director of the Institute for Biocomputation and Physics of Complex Systems, Zaragozza;
President of the Network Science Society; Past-President of the Complex Systems Society;
4. Guido Caldarelli, London Institute of Mathematical Science; Full Professor of Theoretical Physics at IMT
School for Advanced Studies Lucca; President of the Complex Systems Society
5. Alain Barrat, Research Director, Centre de Physique Theorique, Marseille, and Turing Center for Living
Systems, Marseille, France
6. Reka Albert, Distinguished Professor of Physics and Biology, Pennsylvania State University
7. Mason A. Porter, Professor in Mathematics, University of California, Los Angeles, USA
8. Danielle S. Bassett, J Peter Skirkanich Professor, University of Pennsylvania, USA
9. Andrea Bertozzi, Professor of Mathematics and Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California
Los Angeles; Member US National Academy of Sciences
10. Rosario Nunzio Mantegna, Professor of Physics, University of Palermo, Italy
11. Ernesto Estrada, Professor of Mathematics, University of Zaragoza, Spain
12. Marc Barthelemy, Director of Research, Institute de Physique Theorique, CEA, Saclay, France
13. Hawoong Jeong, Professor of Physics, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
14. Jesus Gomez-Garde~nes, Associate professor of Physics, University of Zaragoza, Spain
15. Albert Diaz-Guilera, Professor of Physics, University of Barcelona, Spain
16. Vittorio Loreto, Professor of Physics, University of Rome, Italy; Director, SONY Computer Science Laboratories,
Paris
17. Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Distinguished Professor of Risk Engineering, New York University
18. Jose Ramasco, Reseacher, Insitute for Cross-Disciplinary Physics and Complex Systems, Palma de Mallorca,
Spain
19. Martin Rosvall, Professor of Physics, University of Umea, Sweden
20. Fabrizio De Vico Fallani, Research Scientist, Brain and Spine Institute, Paris
21. Daniele Marinazzo, Professor of Data Analysis, University of Ghent, Belgium
22. Javier M. Buld~Ao, Professor of Electromagnetism, King Juan Carlos University, Spain
23. Alessio Papini, Professor of Biology, University of Florence, Italy
24. Joel Miller, Senior Lecturer in Applied Mathematics, La Trobe University, Australia
References
[1] https://medium.com/@tomaspueyo/coronavirus-act-today-or-people-will-die-f4d3d9cd99ca
[2] https://left.it/2020/03/13/covid_19-open-letter-from-italy-to-the-international-scientific-communi7
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