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UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak Jonathan Brady/PA Images

Boris Johnson u-turns on decision not to self-isolate after UK health secretary tests positive

The prime minister and chancellor quickly came under fire for opting not to self isolate.

LAST UPDATE | 18 Jul 2021

UK PRIME MINISTER Boris Johnson has quickly u-turned on his decision not to self isolate after being deemed a close contact of Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who tested positive for Covid-19 yesterday.

Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak were both in close contact with Javid but initially said they would take part in a pilot scheme involving daily testing instead of isolating, according to BBC News.

Just 157 minutes after saying the prime minister and chancellor would not be isolating, Downing Street said that they would.

Johnson later urged the public to remain vigilant against Covid-19, as England prepares to lift pandemic restrictions tomorrow.

He confirmed he is self-isolating until 26 July.

“Please, please, please be cautious, and go forward tomorrow into the next step with all the right prudence and respect for other people, and the risks that the disease continues to present,” he said in a video posted to Twitter this afternoon.

“We did look briefly at the idea of us taking part in the pilot scheme which allows people to test daily, but I think it’s far more important that everyone sticks to the same rules.”

Johnson and finance minister Rishi Sunak were required to isolate after Health Secretary Sajid Javid confirmed on Saturday he had tested positive for Covid-19.

The pair quickly came under fire for not following due procedure for close contacts of positive cases. Labour leader Keir Starmer wrote on Twitter this morning: “Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak tried to fix the rules yet again to benefit themselves. They only backtracked when they got found out.”

Before Johnson and Sunak’s u-turn, he had written: “Boris Johnson should be setting an example. Instead, he gives himself and his Chancellor preferential treatment. It’s a slap in the face to everyone who has made sacrifices to self isolate.

“It can’t be one rule for the Conservatives and another for everyone else.”

Johnson contracted Covid-19 last year, and spent three days in intensive care.

Sunak said on Twitter this morning: “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.”

From Monday, the British government plans to lift most pandemic curbs on everyday life in England.

Many scientists are concerned that Prime Minister Boris Johnson is putting politics first in his drive to reopen the economy from Monday, despite a surge in infections driven by the Delta variant.

“This is a threat not just to England but to the whole world – particularly low- and middle-income countries who have very limited access to vaccines,” a group of international scientists said in a joint statement Friday.

For the first time since January, Britain’s daily Covid caseload exceeded 50,000 on Friday, and the government warns it could double from that in the coming weeks.

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    Mute Rommel Burke
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    May 15th 2012, 3:05 PM

    Media mogul shocked by media bias! You couldn’t make it up. Well you could but…..I’m past caring.

    101
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    Mute Fagan's
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    May 15th 2012, 2:58 PM

    Dennis you have certainly given them enough material to use against you.

    That said, it has to be one of the lowest grade newspapers I have ever read, full of made up anon. quotes, character assassination and lies.

    (A household journalist in the Sunday Independent confirmed that “Yeah, we make up the quotes, Aengus gave us 50p a word to do it, he once beat a journalist with his own shoe, after he reported the news accurately”).

    85
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    Mute jason bourne
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    May 15th 2012, 3:33 PM

    Is it me or does denis o Brien look incredibly like don conroy in that photo?

    73
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    Mute Cal Mooney
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    May 15th 2012, 4:14 PM

    I dont mean to give the baul Denis a compliment… but he looks more like Rutger Hauer in this photo..
    http://www.avclub.com/articles/rutger-hauer,55531/

    3
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    Mute Begrudgy
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    May 15th 2012, 2:55 PM

    How much has o’brien lost again in his attempted takeover of Indepentant news and media with share price collapse. Definately in the hundreds of millions. Was this revenge and power hungry mission really worth that much ? Guess you just have to ask his ego.

    68
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    Mute HARRY MARKOPOLOS
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    May 15th 2012, 7:01 PM

    Denis will just have to buy out the ”Sindo” and sack Mr Morrissey just like he did with Dunphy and Smyth.

    23
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    Mute Gay Pea McManus
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    May 16th 2012, 3:40 PM

    Could have been worse, at least they didn’t say he had a micropenis or something, that would have have had something to really whinge about, while half the country are on the breadline.

    4
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    Mute Dave
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    May 15th 2012, 3:32 PM

    The Independent is no better than a red top. The whole paper is agenda driven, its not just directed at DOB.

    64
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    Mute Martin Mac
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    May 15th 2012, 4:25 PM

    Whatever about your man O’Brien….he is right about one thing the SINDO “NEWSPAPER” is one the worst & most vested interested driven paper you are EVER likely to read. FACT. I would not use that paper for my cats litter tray its that vile.

    44
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    Mute Kevin O'Sullivan
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    May 15th 2012, 3:20 PM

    A lot of people say that about the Sindo tbh.

    40
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    Mute Charles Fitzgerald
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    May 15th 2012, 5:46 PM

    Man goes from little rich kid with no aptitude for running a business to a billionaire communications mogul by getting a mobile telephony under dubious circumstances. He ‘jokes’ about giving a government minister 100k to his chief executive and claims he should have been able to deduce from the tone of his voice that he was ‘taking the piss’. He the mismanages ESAT for as long as he needs to hold the license, moves to Portugal and flogs the company to O2 for around a 600m profit and claims non residency to avoid CGT. He tells Pat Kenny he took out multiple mortgages on his house to pay for the license. The tribunal finds him a non credible witness and he claims victimization. If only CAB had a corruption wing.

    39
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    Mute Diarmuid Danger Lenihan
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    May 15th 2012, 3:13 PM

    Tis a hard old life for Denis. Hello detective ford !

    28
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    Mute limofax
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    May 15th 2012, 6:17 PM

    Wasn’t he found to be corrupt?
    That said the paper is a piece of s**t anyway.

    23
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    Mute Kieran Clarke
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    May 15th 2012, 6:41 PM

    There is definitely a market for a good sunday newspaper in Ireland, the tribune and independent are rubbish, the times is little more than the English times with about 2 extra articles and while it is very good the sunday business post isn’t exactly for everyone.

    22
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    Mute Ann Toebes
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    May 15th 2012, 11:50 PM

    There hasn’t been a Tribune for about a year now – safe to say you are not missing it!!

    7
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    Mute Kieran Clarke
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    May 16th 2012, 12:44 AM

    Haha I actually lived abroad for most of the year hadn’t realised cheers lol

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    Mute Susie Chester
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    May 15th 2012, 3:43 PM

    He never said any of it was lies tho !

    19
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    Mute Frank Faldo
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    May 15th 2012, 4:08 PM

    I think hes an arogant man but he must remember money is not happiness.

    15
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    Mute Barry McSweeney
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    May 15th 2012, 5:37 PM

    When tax exiles fall out . . . .

    16
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    Mute Mick Conway
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    May 16th 2012, 1:14 AM

    the man is a hero. a through example of an irish man who has gone on to be a success. even if he did some dodgy dealings its how ireland worked at the time. His methods where called into question because he was high profile. You cannot say Denis doesnt have a business brain just look at what he has done since he made a few million with esat. digifone is a huge success one of the biggest telecoms companies ever and no matter where he is a resident now. would you not do the same to protect your income?

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    Mute Frank2521
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    May 15th 2012, 11:49 PM

    O Brien owns all the media as no press will print anything about him as they are afraid of his legal team. My comments were blocked too.

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    Mute Adam Magari
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    May 15th 2012, 11:00 PM

    O’Brien should look on the bright side. The Sunday Independent might have won a subediting contract if the recent tribunal report completion had been put out to tender.

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    Mute Fiachra Maolmordha Ó Raghallaigh
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    May 16th 2012, 12:16 AM

    He handed them the gun (the tribunal), and gave them a worthy motive to shoot them (potential editorial interference).

    Although the Indo is a rag, I doubt O’Brien cares much for journalistic quality – he just wants to stop them from attacking him.

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    Mute Mick Conway
    Favourite Mick Conway
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    May 16th 2012, 1:26 AM

    digicel even*

    1
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