A decision to drop the legal requirement for people to self-isolate following a positive Covid-19 test in England have been made "in the interests of Boris Johnson", Scotland's Health Secretary has said.
Humza Yousaf said that the decision to end rules requiring people to sequester themselves south of the border was being made to “distract and deflect” away from the Partygate Scandals swirling around the Prime Minister, and are not based on public health advice.
The current self-isolation rules in England expire on March 24, but Boris Johnson told MPs at Prime Minister’s Questions that “provided the current encouraging trends in the data continue, it is my expectation that we will be able to end the last domestic restrictions – including the legal requirement to self-isolate if you test positive – a full month early”.
READ MORE: 'Starmer, Savile and a slur too far from Johnson'
Mr Yousaf said the Scottish Government had asked for the scientific advice this decision was based on to be made available, but “none had been forthcoming”.
Speaking to the BBC’s The Nine programme last night, he said: “Let’s be frank about this – the announcement by the Prime Minister is not thought out.
“It doesn't come from any public health advice, and the reason he’s announced it is to try to distract and deflect away from all of his own behavior, which is under - quite rightly - some intense scrutiny.
“In terms of our own plans, what we have said is face coverings and isolation are two of the most effective non-pharmaceutical interventions when it comes to the fight against the virus.”
“The announcement by the Prime Minister is not thought out, it doesn’t come with any public health advice”
— The Nine (@BBCScotNine) February 9, 2022
Health Secretary @HumzaYousaf rules out Scotland following Boris Johnson and the UK government’s plans to lift the remaining Covid restrictions. #TheNine pic.twitter.com/y2TmjOi9Ms
He added: “We’ll always be guided by public health advice. Removing face coverings and removing self-isolation at this moment, when we have such a high number of cases, is not the public health advice that we get at the moment.”
Mr Yousaf continued: “Health policy should be based on good public health advice. As far as I can tell – and we have asked for any public health advice associated with Boris Johnson’s announcement, and none has been forthcoming - Boris Johnson has made this decision in the interests of Boris Johnson, not in the interests of the people.”
Boris Johnson is facing intense scrutiny over Downing Street parties
READ MORE: Boris Johnson's future predicted by polling guru John Curtice
The Health Secretary was speaking after the Metropolitan Police said they would be widening their inquiries to cover a quiz night in No 10 on December 2020 after a photograph emerged of Boris Johnson and colleagues near an open bottle of sparkling wine.
Prominent health expert Professor Devi Sridhar also connected the two events, writing: "Are we all thinking the same thing? It feels like some of UK decision-making around Covid-19 is being driven by parties."
"Even Denmark, which has largely released restrictions bc of high vaccine uptake, still requires people to isolate if positive so they don't infect others," she added.
Are we all thinking the same thing? It feels like some of UK decision-making around COVID-19 is being driven by parties. Even Denmark, which has largely released restrictions bc of high vaccine uptake, still requires people to isolate if positive so they don't infect others.
— Prof. Devi Sridhar 🌈 (@devisridhar) February 9, 2022
Boris Johnson is one of more than 50 people thought to have been involved in events which are the subject of police inquiries surrounding parties held at Downing Street during lockdown.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel