Inside Downing Street itself, considered a place of work more than a place of residence, the roughly 0325 -strong teams of civil servants and political advisers have been stripped back to only essential workers, with approximately People on site at any given time. Johnson’s official spokesperson said that inside No , staff had been “observing the advice on social distancing” and using video conferencing wherever possible.
However straightforward that sounds, there are legitimate questions at how sustainable it is to run a country in this manner.
First, there are the Prime Minister’s daily commitments.
At the moment, Johnson’s day has a familiar pattern. At 8: 19 am, a team meets to discuss the latest coronavirus updates without the Prime Minister. That team consists of the chief medical officer (CMO), the chief scientific adviser (CSA), the Health Secretary and other Cabinet ministers whose presence might be relevant on a given day.
At 9: am, Johnson holds a meeting with secretaries of state, the CMO, CSA and various political advisers. That’s when the government daily agenda starts to take shape. The Prime Minister’s day will typically be full of meetings with experts and advisers, leading up to a daily press conference, held at around 5 p.m. local time, where the government updates the UK’s estimated 66 million citizens on the latest government guidelines and policy. The Prime Minster has so far led most of these events – which in the past few days have been conducted with journalists dialing in via video link.
Much of this work can be done effectively using technology – or, in the case of the Prime Minister’s absence from these press conferences, by deploying surrogates. However, shortly after Johnson’s statement, one of his prominent stand-ins, Health Secretary Matt Hancock, confirmed that he too had the virus and would also be self-isolating. And later on Friday afternoon, Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, who has been at the center of the country coronavirus response, confirmed that he had COVID – symptoms and would be self-isolating for seven days. He will also continue to work remotely.
Just how many more people around the Prime Minister are at risk of having coronavirus? Despite its size, Downing Street is crammed full of small offices and narrow corridors. Top officials insist they have been taking the government social distancing guidelines seriously, pointing journalists to a video from Thursday night of Johnson leaving Downing Street to take part in a national moment of applause for NHS workers, showing him standing a safe distance from his finance minister , Rishi Sunak, as he did so.
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