Boris Johnson was under pressure to fire his main aide after it was reported he and his wife broke the British lock by traveling across England to live with his parents, while showing symptoms of coronavirus.
Dominic Cummings drove more than 260 miles (420 km) from London to Durham, where he lived with family members just days after Johnson locked England and barred family visits, an investigation by Security and Daily mirror was found.
Police confirmed that they were attending a property in the area and talked to someone about the lockdown rules in Britain on March 31, Media reported. Downing Street has declined to comment.
“If (media reports) are accurate, the Prime Minister’s main adviser seems to have broken the lock rule. The government’s guidance is very clear: stay at home and there is no unnecessary trip, “said a Labor spokesman.
“The British people don’t expect that there will be one rule for them and another for Dominic Cummings. Number 10 needs to provide a very quick explanation for his actions.”
Scottish National and Liberal Democratic Party leaders called on Cummings, who played a senior role in the pro-Brexit campaign in 2016 and joined Boris Johnson on Downing Street last year, to resign or be fired.
And David Lidington, Theresa May’s deputy when he was prime minister, told the BBC: “Obviously there are serious questions that must be addressed by Number 10, at least because the readiness of community members to follow government guidelines more generally will be affected by stories like this.”
The limitation of the British coronavirus makes it clear that people should not visit other households, including second homes or family homes, and should not travel that is not important.
“You may not visit family members who do not live in your home,” the rule said. “You have to keep communicating with them using telephone or video calls.”
The country’s self-isolation guidelines also state that if a person has symptoms of Covid-19, they cannot leave their home for seven days.
On April 25, Cummings wife, Mary Wakefield wrote a column in The Spectator magazine about the couple’s experience with Covid-19, but did not mention traveling outside the capital.
“My husband rushed home to look after me,” he wrote in the writing. “After the uncertainty of the bug itself, we emerged from quarantine into London’s uncertainty which was almost uncertain,” he added.
Cummings showed symptoms shortly after Johnson revealed that he had tested positive for the corona virus. The PM then spends a short time in intensive care with the virus. He has repeatedly urged people to stay at home.
Neil Ferguson, a prominent epidemiologist who advises British government to her coronavirus response, was forced to resign earlier this month after appearing he also violated locking rules.
Scotland’s chief medical officer, Catherine Calderwood, also left her position last month after she was photographed by a Scottish newspaper near her family’s second home, in another part of the country to her address in Edinburgh.
