Scotland’s chief medical officer resigns over coronavirus lockdown trips to her second home

Scotland's chief medical officer has resigned for breaking her own set of warnings against all unjustified travel during coronavirus lockdown in the country after making two trips to her second home, according to media reports. Catherine Calderwood released a statement on Sunday saying she had quit, the BBC reported.

Calderwood, 51, was earlier been given a police warning for breaking the lockdown rules after disobeying the guidelines she herself had set out by heading to Earlsferry for the weekend – more than hour's drive away from her main home in Edinburgh, the report said. At first she stated that she would be remaining in her role – a move backed by Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon – but on Sunday she announced her resignation "with a heavy heart", the Metro UK reported. In a statement, she said she agreed that the "justifiable focus on my behaviour risks becoming a distraction from the hugely important job," the report added.

Calderwood's resignation follows mounting criticism from opposition leaders, members of the public and villagers in Earlsferry, Fife, where she and her husband have a second home, the Guardian reported. Calderwood has been the voice of the Scottish government's public information campaign and urged people to avoid all non-essential travel.

"This is a vital update about coronavirus. To help save lives, stay at home. Anyone can spread coronavirus," she said in a government advertisement. Richard Leonard, the Scottish Labour leader, said the Scottish government has not been candid about the Calderwoods' behaviour or her culpability, the report said. "It is clear that the chief medical officer's disregard of the government's 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.

Many leaders said that Calderwood's actions would weaken public confidence in the lockdown. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has been admitted to a hospital for tests after he showed "persistent symptoms of coronavirus" even 10 days after testing COVID-19 positive, has placed the UK on a police-enforced lockdown with drastic new measures in the fight against the coronavirus outbreak.

The Prime Minister ordered people only to leave their homes under a list of "very limited purposes", banned public gatherings of more than two people and ordered the closure of non-essential shops. The UK has reported over 48,000 cases of COVID-19. On Sunday, the Department of Health said 621 more people died in hospitals in the UK over 24 hours after testing positive for coronavirus, taking the total death toll to 4,934 in the country.

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