August 08, (THEWILL) – British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson sparked a fresh row the UK when he continued a tour of Scotland after a member of his team tested positive for Covid-19, deciding not to self-isolate even as others on the trip did.
There was division among officials who confirmed that a member of staff received a positive test result and is following the “appropriate guidance”, but insisted that the Prime Minister “has not come into close contact with anyone who has tested positive,” and public commentators who insist Johnson was in contact with the person in question most of Wednesday in Glasgow, before boarding a plane to continue the tour in Aberdeen. The source added that the person was tested on arrival in Aberdeen. The staff member who tested positive, and some other members of the entourage, then went into isolation.
A Downing Street spokesperson told CNN that the Prime Minister “regularly visits communities across the UK and all aspects of visits are carried out in line with Covid guidance.”
Scottish government COVID-19 protocol says close contacts of anyone who has tested positive for Corona Virus will be asked to self-isolate “for 10 days from symptom onset in the symptomatic person.”
A close contact is defined as “someone who has been physically close enough to the confirmed case for a long enough period of time, that they may have had the virus transmitted to them.”
That of England, set by Johnson’s government, says that a “person may also be a close contact if they have traveled in the same vehicle or plane as a person who has tested positive for COVID-19.”
It is not clear what criteria was applied to the officials who were asked to self-isolate. When asked why Johnson was not self-isolating, a Downing Street source told CNN that the Prime Minister was “tested in advance of traveling to Scotland and had a further PCR test,” before visiting an offshore wind farm on the final day of his trip.
It is possible that Johnson didn’t come into close contact with the staffer who tested positive, as strictly defined by the guidance. But in the past, the government has been criticized for not adhering to the broad thrust of the rules it sets.
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