Whitehall descended into chaos this morning after Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak dramatically backed out of a daily testing pilot which would have allowed them to skip house-arrest after Health Secretary Sajid Javid tested positive for Covid.
Shortly after 8am, No10 said that Mr Johnson and Mr Sunak were contacted by the NHS Covid app after Mr Javid was ordered to self-isolate, but that the Prime Minister and the Chancellor are eligible for the contact tracing pilot to allow them to continue working from Downing Street.
Less than an hour later, Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick told Sky News that Mr Johnson and Mr Sunak were allowed to use the test-and-release pilot set up in Downing Street while the rest of the population should still self-isolate when they are 'pinged' by Test and Trace.
But amid a furious public backlash, Downing Street said at around 10.40am that both ministers will now be self-isolating for 10 days. Mr Johnson will be quarantining at Chequers, while a Treasury spokesman told MailOnline that Mr Sunak will be self-isolating at his Downing Street flat.
No10 said Mr Johnson and Mr Sunak are both eligible for the pilot, which allows people across 20 organisations to take daily tests and avoid self-isolation, because they work in Downing Street. This explains how senior Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove was able to sidestep quarantine over his trip to the Champions League final in Portugal despite being alerted by the NHS Covid app.
It also means that COP26 President Alok Sharma, Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg, Brexit Minister Lord Frost, Paymaster General Penny Mordaunt, Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, and a number of other elected and unelected Downing Street officials are eligible to join the scheme.
Downing Street told MailOnline that just five of the organisations involved in the pilot are public bodies - the Cabinet Office, Border Force, TfL, Network Rail and Heathrow. The remaining 15 are from the private sector, but a spokesman refused to name the organisations when pressed by MailOnline.
It is understood that each person's eligibility within one of the 20 organisations is assessed on a case-by-case basis. Giving an example, a Downing Street spokesman said that Mr Sunak would not have been eligible for the pilot if another member of his household tested positive - but refused to give other examples and referred MailOnline to the Department of Health.
Whitehall descended into chaos this morning after Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak dramatically backed out of a controversial daily testing pilot which would have allowed them to skip house-arrest after Health Secretary Sajid Javid tested positive for Covid
Shortly after 8am this morning, No10 said that Mr Johnson and Mr Sunak were contacted by the NHS Covid app after Mr Javid was ordered to self-isolate, but that the Prime Minister and the Chancellor would be participating in the daily contact tracing pilot to allow them to continue working from Downing Street
Mr Sunak tweeted: 'Whilst the test and trace pilot is fairly restrictive, allowing only essential government business, I recognise that even the sense that the rules aren't the same for everyone is wrong. To that end I'll be self-isolating as normal and not taking part in the pilot'
The Health Secretary was also in the Commons on Monday to announce Freedom Day plans to the nation, meeting with senior ministers the same day
An official No10 statement said: 'The Prime Minister has been contacted by NHS Test and Trace to say he is a contact of someone with Covid. He was at Chequers when contacted by Test and Trace and will remain there to isolate.
'He will not be taking part in the testing pilot. He will continue to conduct meetings with ministers remotely. The Chancellor has also been
