In U-turn, Boris to quarantine for 10 days

LONDON/SEOUL: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will spend 10 days self-isolating after contact with a confirmed coronavirus case, his office said on Sunday - reversing an earlier announcement that he won’t have to quarantine.

Johnson’s 10 Downing St. office said the prime minister and treasury chief Rishi Sunak were both alerted overnight by England’s test-and-trace phone app.

He had a meeting on Friday with health secretary Sajid Javid, who tested positive for Covid-19 on Saturday. Javid, who has been fully vaccinated, says he is experiencing mild symptoms.

People who are notified through the app are supposed to self-isolate, though it is not a legal requirement. Contacts of positive cases usually are advised to self-isolate for 10 days.

But Johnson’s office initially said the prime minister and Sunak would instead take a daily coronavirus test as part of an alternative system being piloted in some workplaces, including government offices.

That plan was reversed less than three hours later after an outcry over apparent special treatment for politicians. Downing St. said Johnson would selfisolate at Chequers, the prime minister’s country residence, and “will not be taking part in the testing pilot”. It said Sunak also would self-isolate.

S Korea to bring home sailors aboard destroyer

South Korea was sending military aircraft to replace the entire 300-member crew of a navy destroyer on an anti-piracy mission off eastern Africa after 68 of them tested positive for the coronavirus, officials said.

Two multi-role aerial tankers will bring home 300 sailors aboard the 4,400-ton-class destroyer Munmu the Great, joint chiefs of staff and defence ministry officials said, requesting anonymity citing department rules. Fifteen sailors are hospitalised in an African country that the officials did not name, while the rest were on the virus-hit destroyer.