The UK should ban foreigners over the age of 50 from visiting until a vaccine for coronavirus has become available to reduce the strain of the National Health Service, a paper has argued.
Think-tank Migration Watch UK said, as a result, all visitors from outside the European Union should be required to apply for a visa in advance to help enforce the measure.
The think-tank, which has been criticised for an anti-migrant approach from some, said evidence showed people under the age of 50 were much less likely to need hospital treatment if they contracted the virus.
Exceptions should be made for senior business officials, the paper argued. It’s estimated there were more than 143 million passenger arrivals in the UK in 2019, including British and EU citizens.
The government has been forced to call in the military to help set up emergency, makeshift hospitals to ensure there are enough beds for those who get seriously ill with the virus.
It’s also been trying to manufacture more ventilators to help those in intensive care but has faced criticism for not having enough protective equipment for medical workers.
“For so long as there is no vaccination against the coronavirus its presence transforms the context in which we must consider border controls. We know that it is highly contagious and that we have no scientifically proven treatment for it, let alone a cure,” Migration Watch said.
Foreigners are entitled to free emergency healthcare via the NHS in the UK.
While progress is being made in containing the pandemic in the UK, the paper argues, there is a “clear risk” this could stutter “if unrestricted entry were to be permitted to millions of passengers from countries where the virus was still extensive”.
