PM 'didn't isolate despite contact with Covid

case', sources claim

LONDON - Boris Johnson was facing questions last night after allegations
emerged that he failed to self-isolate last year after coming into contact
with a positive Covid-19 case.

The Prime Minister is alleged to have stood 'close' to a videographer, who

later tested positive for the virus, in Downing Street during his official
New Year's message on December 31, 2020, sources told The Mirror.

The Downing Street aide, who was not wearing a mask, later informed
officials and staff members who were present in the room and they were
all asked to self-isolate for ten days - under the official guidance at the
time.

However sources have claimed the Prime Minister was not asked to self-
isolate.

During the recording last year, the videographer is alleged to have stood
'face-to-face' with the PM for around 15 minutes, sources told The Mirror.

It has also been claimed that the pair were less than two metres away
from each other. 

The contact came just days before the UK entered a third national
lockdown as the NHS tried to cope with a rising number of coronavirus
cases. 

A Downing Street spokesperson told The Mirror: 'The prime minister was
socially distanced from the individual who subsequently tested positive
and the duration of the filming was shorter than 15 minutes.

 'This has been reaffirmed by those present. He was not advised to isolate
as the rules did not require him to do so.' 

The latest claims come as the UK's Covid-19 infections increased by 44.6

per cent in a week as Boris Johnson yesterday suggested NHS staff could
be moved to plug shortages amid fears about the Omicron wave
triggering a lockdown by default. 
Department of Health bosses reported a further 157,758 cases today, a
rise from the 109,077 cases which were reported in the country last
Monday. 

The number of people dying with the virus saw a 70.6 per cent
decrease, with 42 deaths reported in the UK today compared to 143 on
December 27. 

This is the thirteenth day in a row that cases have been above the
100,000 mark as the country moves out of the festive season and comes
just days after the week-on-week increase was as high as 72.5 per cent
on December 29. 

Meanwhile the number of people being admitted to hospital in London has

fallen, with 314 patients admitted to hospital on January 1, a 28 per cent
decrease from the 437 admitted last Monday. 

It comes as the PM revealed that the government is looking at

redeploying personnel after the public sector was warned to brace for a
worst-case scenario of a quarter of staff - around 1.4million people -
being off work.

One in ten NHS employees were not in on New Year's Eve, according to
official figures - although just 50,000 of the 110,000 total was related to
coronavirus.

United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust has declared a 'critical incident'

linked to 'extreme and unprecedented' staff shortages.

Nearly a third of rail services have been axed at some stations in recent
days, after as many as one in ten staff called in sick with illnesses
including Covid - while major engineering works on key commuter routes
are scheduled to continue until midway through next week. 

Councils across the UK are having to redistribute staff between essential

services to keep everything running. 

Schools are also being urged to make contingency plans to deal with staff
absences when they return from the Christmas holidays this week. 

On a visit to a vaccination centre in Stoke Mandeville yesterday, Mr

Johnson urged people to 'stick to Plan B' and Omicron is 'plainly milder'.

He cautioned that it would be 'folly' to assume the pandemic is over the

health service will be under 'considerable pressure' for weeks to come,
saying the government is 'looking at what we can do to move people into
those areas that are particularly badly affected'. 

But he batted away calls for the self-isolation period to be cut to five days
- saying that could make staff shortages worse by fuelling spread. 

'I think the way forward for the country as a whole is to continue with the
path that we're on. We'll will keep everything under review,' the PM said.

'The mixture of things that we're doing at the moment is, I think, the
right one.

'So, number one, continue with Plan B, make sure that people take it
seriously, do what we can to stop the spread, use the Plan B measures,
work from home if you can, wear a mask on public transport… take a test
before going out to meet people you don't normally meet, think about the
the requirements under Plan B, but also get the boost.' 

[Source: Bhvishya Patel For Mailonline - Daily Mail - 04 January 2022]