An image of an empty street in Edinburgh, Scotland amid the coronavirus pandemic (Photo via BBC)
Catherine Calderwood, Scotlands chief medical officer, having faced intense criticism for breaking her own rules to twice visit her second home during the coronavirus outbreak, has been obliged to quit her job.
In a statement issued on Sunday night, Calderwood said she had discussed the controversy - sparked by her insistence that she would carry on - with Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon and realized her position was untenable.
She concluded that it was impossible for the public to have confidence in official advice to avoid all non-essential travel if she remained in post.
"People across Scotland know what they need to do to reduce the spread of this virus and that means they must have complete trust in those who give them advice. It is with a heavy heart that I resign as chief medical officer."
Her resignation comes after much criticism from opposition leaders, members of the public and villagers in Earlsferry, Fife, where she and her husband have a second home.
She admitted that, despite being the official voice of the Scottish governments public information campaign urging people to avoid all non-essential travel, she and her husband had visited Earlsferry the previous weekend - something she and the government did not disclose until Sunday afternoon.
Sturgeon, who had, a few hours earlier at her daily coronavirus briefing, insisted that she needed Calderwood at her side to give her expert advice on the crisis, said she now agreed the controversy was damaging the governments message.
"It is clear that the mistake she made - even though she has apologized sincerely and honorably for it - risks distracting from and undermining confidence in the governments public health message at this crucial time. That is not a risk either of us is willing to take."
Sturgeon had announced that Calderwood was stepping back from all public campaigning on the outbreak, including the Scottish government public information film urging people to stay at home which was still being broadcast on Sunday, just four hours prior to the announcement of her resignation.
This step back measure did not satisfy the opposition parties. Richard Leonard, the Scottish Labour leader, said the Scottish government had not been candid about the Calderwoods behavior or her culpability.
"It is clear that the chief medical officers disregard of the governments own guidelines which she is the principal adviser on, was not a one-off, a simple mistake, or human error as was suggested overnight," Leonard said.
"The CMO needs to step down, not step back. The Scottish governments handling of this has been less than straight. Unless the government is honest and open, it is running the serious risk of causing public confidence to collapse. This is in no-ones interest at a time of national crisis."
Police Scotlands chief constable, Iain Livingstone, said his officers had given Calderwood a formal warning about her conduct after visiting her home on Sunday.
In an intervention designed to shore up public confidence in the lockdown, Livingstone used his forces Twitter feed to chastise Calderwood.
"The legal instructions on not leaving your home without a reasonable excuse apply to everyone," he said. "Individuals must not make personal exemptions bespoke to their own circumstances."
When asked several times earlier on Sunday whether Calderwood had tendered her resignation after her visits came to light, she hinted Calderwood had offered to quit but she had refused to allow it.
"Whatever her reasons for doing so, she was wrong, and she knows that," Sturgeon said, adding that Calderwood had given her an unreserved apology.
"If Im to do what I need to do, to steer this country through the crisis to the very best of my ability I need her to be able to focus on the job she is doing," Sturgeon said. "A job that - notwithstanding her mistake on this - she is doing extremely well."
Calderwood stood next to the first minister during the briefing, being broadcast live online. Calderwood said she was "truly sorry" for breaching her own advice not to travel, and acknowledged NHS staff had attacked her conduct.
The controversy intensified on Sunday, yet a Scottish government advert featuring Calderwoods warnings against all unjustified travel was still being broadcast, in which she said, "This is a vital update about coronavirus. To help save lives, stay at home. Anyone can spread coronavirus."
Willie Rennie, the Scottish Liberal Democrat leader and MSP, said residents in the scenic village were livid about an influx of second-home owners arriving there over the weekend. Backed by Scottish Labour, he said Calderwoods actions would weaken public confidence in the lockdown.
When she refused to be drawn in on questions regarding her governments candor in first defending the chief medical officers actions, and fielded questions that reporters had put to Calderwood.
On Saturday, the Scottish government said Calderwood had been working "seven days a week" and "she took the opportunity this weekend to check on a family home in Fife as she knows she will not be back again until the crisis is over".
This does not explain why the whole family needed to go or stay overnight to "check on a family home in Fife." During the briefing on Sunday, Calderwood admitted she and her husband had also gone to Earlsferry the previous weekend - a fact not disclosed by the government on Saturday.
SOURCE: PRESS TV
LINK: https://www.ansarpress.com/english/15503
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