Outrage appears to have forced them to alter their plans
Prime minister Boris Johnson and chancellor Rishi Sunak will self isolate having been pinged over health secretary Sajid Javid’s positive Covid test; it has been reported.
Despite being pinged by the Track and Trace app, both Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak were initially not going to self isolate. Instead, they would take part in a ‘random’ pilot scheme in which, instead of isolating, they would get daily tests.
Their use of the scheme, which has also been used by Michael Gove after getting pinged during the summer, provoked outrage from all quarters over their hypocrisy – at a time when millions of people in the UK are currently self-isolating after being pinged ahead of ‘Freedom Day’.
POLITICO editor Alex Wickham shared the news on Twitter, writing: “U-TURN, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak to isolate.”
U-TURN
Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak to isolate
— Alex Wickham (@alexwickham) July 18, 2021
Initially, a spokesperson said:
“The prime minister and chancellor have been contacted by NHS Test and Trace as contacts of someone who has tested positive for COVID.
“They will be participating in the daily contact testing pilot to allow them to continue to work from Downing Street.
“They will be conducting only essential government business during this period.”
Freedom day may be coming tomorrow, but officials from across the political and scientific spectrum have warned that the roadmap has some serious potholes in it.
Professor Christina Pagel, a member of the Independent UK Sage panel, said: “Because of our position as a global travel hub any variant that becomes dominant in the UK will likely spread to the rest of the world.
“We saw it with Alpha variant. I’m absolutely sure that we have contributed to the rise of the Delta variant in North America and Europe. UK [government] policy doesn’t just affect us – it affects everybody.”
