British PM Johnson defends key aide Cummings over lockdown violation

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on May 24 came in defence of his top aide and one of Brexit's key architects Dominic Cummings after the latter faced flak for supposedly flouting lockdown rules and travelling 400 kilometres away from his London home on March 31. Boris Johnson said that Cummings' wife was showing coronavirus symptoms at the time of their travel and he thought that he was likely to get sick too, so, he decided to drop his young son to their relatives' place. Johnson further added that Cummings acted responsibly and legally. 

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"And it is because I take this matter so seriously and frankly it is so serious that I can tell you today I have had an extensive face to face conversations with Dominic Cummings and I have concluded that in travelling to find the right kind of childcare, at the moment when both he and his wife were about to be incapacitated by a coronavirus. And when he had no alternative, I think he followed the instincts of every father and every parent. I believe that in every respect he has acted responsibly, and legally, and with integrity, and with the overwhelming aim of stopping the spread of the virus and saving lives," Johnson said during a press conference on May 24. 

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Johnson's government is also facing accusations of hypocrisy as critics recollect when Scotland's former chief medical officer Catherine Calderwood had to resign because of similar violation last month after she travelled to her second home amid lockdown. Epidemiologist Neil Ferguson, UK government scientific adviser also had to step down earlier this month after media reports emerged that his girlfriend had travelled to London to stay with him amid lockdown. 

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COVID-19 in UK

Apart from defending his top aide Cummings, Boris Johnson also gave out some figures regarding coronavirus pandemic in the UK. Johnson said that so far, 3,458,905 tests for coronavirus have been conducted in the country, of which 110,401 tests were carried out on May 23. "8,951 people are in hospital with COVID-19 in the UK, down 11% from 10,085 this time last week. And sadly, of those tested positive for coronavirus, across all settings, 36,793 have now died. That’s an increase of 118 fatalities since yesterday," Johnson said.

Read: Boris Johnson’s Top Aide Dominic Cummings Accused Of Flouting Lockdown Rules

(Image Credit: AP)