He has clearly broken the government rules (if not the law) by driving to Durham and back to 'self isolate' - although he only knew his wife was unwell at the start of the journey (becoming sick himself overnight), that makes the breach worse!

His smokescreens and excuses are pathetic: 'threats' at his London home (no longer an issue!), his importance to government, his failure to seek family support in London and choice to put his close family and potentially nieces at risk, the 'exceptional' (but sadly very common) circumstances of having a young child in the household (who became ill after spending hours in close proximity in a car with sick parents), the private land he was out walking in on two occasions whilst 'self isolating', his failure to inform Johnson and Johnson's failure to question where he had been for 2 weeks, the day trip with wife and child to a pretty market town to check his eyesight (with a stroll and sit on riverside bench) and his turning the crisis into one of media 'misreporting' and whether he should or should not have returned to work.

Load of self-serving crap!

It looks as if the Mail, the scientists, the bishops, a hard core of Tory MPs, a lot of Tory voters as well as the opposition are totally underwhelmed by that performance, even if it has stopped other Tory MPs joining in the demands for action. He has not drawn a line. This will either continue to fester or Johnson will have to dump him. The political damage (and public health credibility crisis) is just growing.

The bells and whistles on this story don't change the basic central fact - Cummings broke the lock-down rules he had helped to design by driving to Durham and not staying at home.



https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-52784152

Government advice for households where one or more members have coronavirus symptoms is simple - stay at home.

Official guidance published in March says "it is very important that individuals with symptoms that may be due to coronavirus and their household members stay at home". This still applies.

The guidance outlines ways to pass the time and obtain food and medicine.

However, it does acknowledge that it is not always straightforward when children are involved.

It says: "If you have children, keep following this advice to the best of your ability, however, we are aware that not all these measures will be possible."

The guidance has been on the government website since 12 March, before lockdown was imposed.

The day after lockdown began, 24 March, the deputy chief medical officer for England, Dr Jenny Harries, clarified who could look after a child if both parents or carers were incapacitated.

She said: "Clearly if you have adults who are unable to look after a small child, that is an exceptional circumstance.

"And if the individuals do not have access to care support - formal care support - or to family, they will be able to work through their local authority hubs."

The government says that those with no one to help with getting food, prescriptions or other essentials, could get support from NHS volunteers, or should contact their local council.