Scottish chief medical officer quits after ignoring virus advice
The Scottish government’s top medical expert has resigned after she was caught ignoring her own advice to stay at home during the coronavirus pandemic.
Chief medical officer Catherine Calderwood said she was “deeply sorry” in a statement late Sunday announcing her resignation after talks with Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, Britain’s Press Association reported.
“The justifiable focus on my behaviour risks becoming a distraction from the hugely important job that government and the medical profession has to do in getting the country through this coronavirus pandemic,” Calderwood said in her statement, as cited by PA.
She had earlier admitted to travelling on two consecutive weekends to a second home in a rural area of Scotland’s east coast, an act that contradicted her own advice to Scots to remain in their primary residence.
The admission followed the publication in the Scottish edition of newspaper The Sun of photographs of Calderwood in the popular tourist destination of Earlsferry, Fife.
“I did not follow the advice I am giving to others,” Calderwood told a press conference Sunday. “I am truly sorry for that.”
Calderwood, who had repeatedly made televised calls for people to respect public restrictions designed to quell the spread of the coronavirus, initially received only a warning from the Scottish government.
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First Minister Nicola Sturgeon had said Calderwood’s advice and expertise were “invaluable” and that she expected people to be angry but asked them to consider the “wider importance” of Dr Calderwood’s advice to the government during the pandemic.
The resignation came after further talks between the medical chief and the Scottish leader.
Scottish Police had visited the medical expert and issued a warning about her future conduct, according to a statement on Twitter.
“The legal instructions on not leaving your home without a reasonable excuse apply to everyone,” Chief Constable Iain Livingstone said. (dpa)
