Jeremy Hunt has criticised Boris Johnson for not suspending ‘mass gatherings of over 500 people’ in wake of the Coronavirus outbreak.
All across Europe football matches have been postponed or played behind closed doors.
Yesterday Manchester United and Wolves played Europa League ties in empty stadiums but 50,000 fans were packed into Ibrox to watch the visit of Bayer Leverkusen.
Overnight it emerged that Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta and Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odia have tested positive for the virus with tomorrow’s Brighton v Arsenal match postponed.
Yesterday it was expected that football would be restricted to Closed Doors status but when Prime Minister Johnson faced a media conference at 5pm no actions were announced.
Encouraging dozens of sports events this weekend that will attract more than 20,000 spectators came as a shock to many, including Hunt.
The BBC website reported:
Mr Hunt, who quit as foreign secretary in July, told BBC Newsnight that the UK was in a “national emergency” and suggested the government’s new approach did not go far enough.
Asked about the decision not to cancel large gatherings yet, he said: “I think it is surprising and concerning that we’re not doing any of it at all when we have just four weeks before we get to the stage that Italy is at.
“You would have thought that every single thing we do in that four weeks would be designed to slow the spread of people catching the virus.”
The Scottish government have advised that gatherings of over 500 are stopped from Monday- allowing Sunday’s Glasgow derby at Ibrox to go ahead.