Where the UK's imported Covid-19 cases originated

Far from a 'patient zero' scenario, the coronavirus was brought into the UK by at least 1,356 individuals. New analysis of Covid-19 genome sequences taken from over 20,000 people in the UK has revealed the countries from which the virus was imported as of 22 May. According to the COG-UK consortium's research, at the top of the list, accounting for an estimated 33.6 percent of all importation events is Spain.

With regards to the theory that the Champions League match between Liverpool and Atletico Madrid on 11 March led to a large number of new infections in the country, the researchers state that such events "made a negligible contribution to the number of imports at that time". Around 3,000 fans travelled to Liverpool for the match, but putting that figure into context, the BBC reports that 20,000 people were flying into the country from Spain every day in mid-March.