Boris Johnson’s chief adviser Dominic Cummings self-isolating after experiencing coronavirus symptoms
Dominic Cummings has tested positive for coronavirus and is in self-isolation (PA)
2 min read
Boris Johnson’s chief adviser Dominic Cummings is in self-isolation after experiencing coronavirus symptoms.
The news comes after the Prime Minister and Health Secretary Matt Hancock both tested positive for Covid-19.
Chief medical officer Chris Whitty is also self-isolating after reporting having symptoms.
A Number 10 source said Mr Cummings began to feel ill over the weekend, but remains “in contact” with the Downing Street operation.
Mr Cummings was filmed by broadcasters running out of Downing Street on Friday lunchtime, shortly before the PM’s positive test was announced.
The former special advisor to Michael Gove and Vote Leave campaign director will now have to spend at least a week in quarantine, according to the Public Health England guidelines.
Mr Johnson has continued to lead the UK response to the pandemic since testing positive, and was seen taking charge of a meeting of his senior team via video link over the weekend.
He has also posted a video from inside the flat above Number 11 Downing Street, where he is self-isolating, saying Britain's response to the crisis shows "there really is such a thing as society”.
The PM made the claim as he revealed 20,000 former NHS staff have so far answered the call to go back to work during the crisis.
Meanwhile 750,000 members of the public have volunteered to help the health service - three times the original target.
Mr Johnson added: “It’s a most amazing thing. And that’s of course in addition to the 750,000 members of the public who have volunteered to help us get through this crisis.
"We are going to do it. We are going to do it together. One thing I think coronavirus crisis has proved is that there really is such a thing as society."
The comments are a reference to Margaret Thatcher's claim in a 1987 magazine interview that "there is no such thing as society”.
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