Isolation shambles casts dark shadow over Freedom Day

‘This encourages millions to ignore or delete the NHS app’

- Leo McKinstry

THE Day of Freedom has become the Descent into Farce. What should have been an uplifting landmark in our national recovery from the pandemic is now a depressing milestone in arrogant misjudgment by our rulers.

Today was meant to signal the beginning of normality as ministers relaxed most of the legal Covid restrictions, in England, such as nightclub closures and limits on the numbers at weddings. But these welcome steps have been overshadowed by a furor over the shabby attempt by the Prime Minister and the Chancellor to evade the Government’s own requirements on self-isolation.

This saga began on Saturday with the news that Health Secretary Sajid Javid had tested positive for Covid. As two of his closest colleagues, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak soon received alerts from the NHS, warning them they had been in close contact with an infected person. Like thousands of other Britons, they were supposed to self-isolate immediately.

But instead, it was claimed that the two senior Cabinet Ministers had been “randomly” selected to participate in a pilot scheme, whereby they could avoid isolation simply by taking a daily Covid test.