Reuters Reuters
19 July, 2021, 12:15 pm
Britain s Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks during the weekly question time debate in Parliament in London, Britain, July 14, 2021, in this screen grab taken from video. Reuters TV via REUTERS
LONDON, July 18 (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and finance minister Rishi Sunak will both self-isolate in line with national guidance, abandoning heavily criticised plans to take part in a pilot scheme that would have allowed them to continue working.
The U-turn comes a day after health minister Sajid Javid said he had tested positive for COVID-19 and at a time when the government’s coronavirus response is under intense scrutiny.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will go into self-isolation for 10 days after he came into contact with a confirmed COVID-19 case. The move amounted to a reversal after Johnson and his top finance official, Rishi Sunak, came into contact recently with Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday. At first Johnson and Sunak said they would not isolate because they would join a pilot program that involved taking daily coronavirus tests to avoid quarantine. But that led to an uproar from critics who accused the government officials of a double standard.
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When the National Health Service notifies a person of a close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19 they are supposed to self-isolate for 10 days, although it isn’t a legal requirement. Still, critics said that hundreds of thousands of people had been forced to go into quarantine and the pilot program sounded like another scheme to make sure the powerful could avoid the
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will self-quarantine, in line with national guidance, abandoning heavily-criticized plans to take part in a pilot scheme that would ve allowed him to continue working. According to Downing Street Sunday, Johnson will spend ten days self-isolating after contact with a confirmed patient, reversing an earlier announcement that he would not quarantine.
Johnson along with the UK s Finance Minister go into quarantine after Health Secretary Sajid Javid tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday.
This comes as the UK on Monday will lift most of its remaining anti-virus measures.
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The U-turn comes a day after health minister Sajid Javid said he had tested positive for COVID-19 and at a time when the government’s coronavirus response is under intense scrutiny.
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Almost all remaining restrictions in England will be lifted on Monday despite a surge in infections as ministers put their faith in the advanced vaccine program.
Cases are rising by more than 50,000 a day and hundreds of thousands of Britons are being asked to self isolate for 10 days, causing havoc for employers and parents, prompting train cancellations and forcing some businesses to close their doors.
Pandémie : JO à l’ombre du Covid, Boris Johnson à l’isolement
Un casse-tête s’annonce pour les Jeux Olympiques de Tokyo, confrontés à un premier foyer de contamination au Covid-19, face à la pandémie qui accélère dans la plupart des régions du monde et a conduit dimanche le Premier ministre britannique Boris Johnson, cas contact, à l’isolement.
L’Union européenne, elle, espère que le récent durcissement des mesures sanitaires dans certains Etats membres portera ses fruits face au virulent variant Delta, et peut au moins se réjouir sur un point: avoir dépassé les États-Unis pour le taux de population ayant reçu au moins une dose de vaccin. Longtemps à la traîne sur la vaccination, « l’UE a aujourd’hui vacciné une plus grande part de sa population en première dose que les Etats-Unis (55,5%/55,4%) », a affirmé le secrétaire d’Etat français aux Affaires européennes, Clément Beaune, sur Twitter. « On continue, on accélère! », a-t-i