Rules are to be applied to all – England’s deputy chief medical officer
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England’s deputy chief medical officer said the COVID-19 rules were clear and applied to all when he was asked about the prime minister’s most senior adviser, Dominic Cummings, who made a lengthy journey during the lockdown.
Jonathan Van-Tam bucked the trend of other government advisers who have avoided commenting on Cummings when he was asked at a daily news conference whether people in authority should give a lead and obey the rules.
“Thank you for the question and I’m quite happy to answer it,” he said.
“In my opinion the rules are clear and they have always been clear. In my opinion, they are for the benefit of all and in my opinion they apply to all.”
The Telegraph reports that “Britain is at “a very dangerous moment”, England’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer warned today as he urged the country to continue following the guidance. Speaking at the Downing Street briefing, Professor Van-Tam warned Britons not to “tear the pants out of it” as the Government made new changes to lockdown rules.”
Earlier this week the Prime Minister gave the green light for households in England to hold BBQs and garden gathers of up to six people and from Monday, following an announcement made at today’s briefing, groups of a same size will be able to exercise together.
However the Deputy Medical Officer stressed that Britons must still be sensible and proportionate with the new freedoms the Government has given to them or risk a second peak of infections.
“We have to get this right,” he said today, adding that while the chances of the latest “easements” allowing the R value to go above one are “extremely low”, it is not a guarantee. Contact tracing has to go well but the public also have to engage with it seriously and isolate if told to, he said.
