Johnson U-Turns, Says He’ll Isolate After U.K. Covid Contact

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Prime Minister Boris Johnson agreed to self isolate after being exposed to Covid-19, changing course after a decision to skirt the measure generated a backlash a day before his government is due to lift remaining virus curbs.

Early Sunday, Johnson’s office said in a statement that he and the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak wouldn’t isolate after being contacted by U.K.’s test and trace program designed to limit the spread of the virus.

Instead, they were to take part in a daily testing program that’s open to some ministers and 20 organizations across the U.K.

That prompted a furious backlash on social media from the Labour Party and some members of the public. Cabinet minister Robert Jenrick was forced to defend the decision on Sunday’s political TV shows.

By 10:47 a.m., Johnson’s office that announced the decision had been reversed.

530,126 people were told by NHS Test and Trace that they had to isolate last week.

Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak won’t because they believe the rules all of us follow should not apply to them.

This government is a sleazy, duplicitous joke.
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) July 18, 2021

“He was at Chequers when contacted by Test and Trace and will remain there to isolate,” a spokesman for Johnson said announcing the reversal of the prime minister’s decision, referring to the premier’s countryside residence. “He will not be taking part in the testing pilot.”

Sunak said on Twitter that he recognized “that even the sense that the rules aren’t the same for everyone is wrong.”

Whilst the test and trace pilot is fairly restrictive, allowing only essential government business, I recognise that even the sense that the rules aren’t the same for everyone is wrong.

To that end I’ll be self isolating as normal and not taking part in the pilot.
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) July 18, 2021

The move comes a day before Johnson’s government lifts coronavirus restrictions for England -- changes that don’t for now include amending provisions on isolating when exposed to a positive case.

The backlash to Johnson’s original decision came after more than half a million people were “pinged” by the National Health Service last week and told to self-isolate, creating acute worker shortages across industries ranging from retail stories to car factories.

The opposition Labour Party’s health spokesman Jonathan Ashworth told Sky News ahead of the u-turn the public would view the decision as “one rule for them and something else for the rest of us.”

Johnson’s government has faced criticism that his officials don’t abide by the same rules as ordinary people. Examples include a lengthy road-trip his then-adviser Dominic Cummings made at the height of the pandemic’s first wave, and former Health Secretary Matt Hancock having to resign after being caught in an embrace.

Surge in Isolating Workers Wreaks Havoc on U.K. Businesses

Companies are urging Johnson to speed up changes to self-isolation rules after hundreds of thousands of employees from across the economy were removed from the workplace because of a surge in alerts that they should stay at home.

“If it is a pilot, why can’t employers apply for their workers to be members of this pilot?” Ashworth said on Sky News.

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick told Sky News he appreciated “the frustration” the public might experience at the news, adding that the pilot projects are not limited to politicians; a range of organizations including workers on the London underground network are taking part.

Johnson and Sunak were likely pinged after Health Secretary Sajid Javid said he had the virus.

Javid, 51, who took over the health portfolio from Hancock in June, said Saturday he was was isolating at home with his family. He said his symptoms were “very mild.” The health chief said he’s fully vaccinated, and tweeted in March that he received the AstraZeneca shot.

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