Stark contrast with tragic nurse

ON April 5 Rebecca Mack, 29 years old, died.

She was a nurse living in Cramlington. Suffering severely from coronavirus, Rebecca rang for the paramedics. Sadly, by the time they arrived she was dead. Her door had been left open for their arrival. Rebecca had taken the selfisolation advice to mean just that. She had been strict with herself with friends delivering food parcels to her, she didn’t even visit her parents only a few miles away, who were also suffering symptoms.

A week to the day from this tragic event and some 60 miles away, Dominic Cummings had driven to Barnard Castle. He knew he had symptoms of the virus but wanted to ‘test his eyesight.’ Unbelievably, he drove with both his wife and child in the car.

The contrast between these two stories couldn’t be more stark. On one side, the man who made the rule “Stay At Home”. Rebecca obeyed the rules to the end.

It beggars belief that he had a press conference as if he was a government minister. It only reinforced the Prime Minister’s own unconvincing words. Many of us knew already knew that Cummings is captain of the ship, not Johnson. This episode has undermined the “Stay At Home” message. A second spike is bound to come as the infection rate still hasn’t come down enough to relax a lot of the rules.

In a time of crisis we need a strong leader who has a consistent message, not one who bends the rules for his crony. It is an insult to people like Rebecca’s parents who, after their daughters death, urged people to stay home. Cummings must go!

COUN CATH DAVIS, Preston Ward, North Tyneside Council