Prime Minister Boris Johnson unveiled containment easing measures that will apply to the majority of the country's population starting next week. "These changes mean that friends and families will be able to start meeting their loved ones, perhaps seeing their parents or grandparents at the same time," he announced in a political context polluted by the Dominic affair. Cummings, his special adviser accused of breaking the rules limiting movement during confinement.
Schools to reopen gradually from Monday and small groups of up to six people can meet outside in England (in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, public health issues are the responsibility of the autonomous executives ). "You can have family meetings in a garden, you can even have a barbecue if you do it in a socially distant way, provided that everyone is washing their hands, that everyone is using common sense" , a said Johnson.
Outdoor stores and car dealerships will also be allowed to reopen on Monday. Boris Johnson pointed out that these changes were "temporary small steps" and public health experts insisted that the epidemiological situation remained fragile.
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The head of government, who spoke at a press conference alongside his two main medical and scientific officials, refused all questions relating to Dominic Cummings, even those addressed to his experts. Chris Whitty, chief medical officer of England, and Patrick Vallance, chief scientific adviser to the government, also said that they did not want to be involved in political matters. Dominic Cummings, considered the most listened to advisor to Boris Johnson, traveled at the end of March 400 kilometers from London to the north of England to go to his parents, in Durham, with his four-year-old son and his wife, who exhibited symptoms of COVID-19. Police said Thursday that he may have committed a breach of containment rules but did not intend to initiate proceedings.
Leader of the Leave campaign during the referendum of June 23, 2016 which saw a majority of Britons vote for Brexit, Cummings also played a major role in the conquest of Downing Street by Boris Johnson last summer. According to the Daily Mail , which cites "informed sources" , he plans to leave his post as prime minister's special adviser later this year. "According to an insider who knows him well, he intends to move away from the political front line now that the United Kingdom finally cuts ties with the European Union," the newspaper writes on its website. .
