Today’s coronavirus news: Britain’s ‘partygate’ scandal explained

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7:30 a.m. A no-confidence vote in British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was spurred by a COVID-era scandal involving parties at Downing Street that violated lockdown rules dubbed “party gate.”

Here’s what you need to know about the scandal.

What were Britain’s COVID lockdown rules?

Under COVID-19 restrictions, Britons were not allowed to leave their homes and were banned from socializing. Some restrictions, according to BBC News, required that you could not leave your home without a reasonable excuse, and the government said you could only meet one person at a time outside. People could not travel abroad or see dying family members at hospitals.

What happened at No.10 Downing Street during that time?

In the mid-2020s when the U.K. was under restrictive lockdowns, there were parties inside the prime minister’s office at No. 10 Downing St. Alcohol-fueled illegal parties took place, and Johnson participated in one party that was held for him.

In May 2020, about 100 people received an email to come to a “socially distanced” party. Among the 30 in attendance were the prime minister and his wife, Carrie Johnson, a BBC report shows.

Parties continued through the mornings, where some of his staff members were drunk, vomiting, fighting with each other, and rule-breaking inside Downing Street, according to CNN.

When were the parties discovered?

The parties were not discovered until last year.

In November, a reporter at the Daily Mirror alleged that a series of parties occurred at 10 Downing Street in 2020, according to Slate. About a week later, ITV, a British news station, published a video of Johnson’s staff “joking about their wine and cheese Christmas party.” This led to Allegra Stratton, a senior government official’s resignation, Slate reported.

How many parties were there?

From the span of May 2020 up until last April, there were 16 parties, according to the Washington Post.

The Post said guests were encouraged “to bring their own booze,” and The Guardian published a picture of an event on May 15, 2020, which the prime minister’s spokesperson called a “work meeting,” saying because it happened during work hours, it fell under the COVID regulations.

What did Johnson say about the parties?

Johnson apologized last month after he revealed that he was among dozens of people who paid a police fine for attending lockdown-breaching parties and gatherings. That made him the first British leader to be sanctioned for breaking the law. He said he takes “full responsibility” but also insisted it was now time to “move on” and focus on Britain’s battered economy and the war in Ukraine.

But many Conservatives feel that Johnson, the charismatic leader who won them a huge parliamentary majority in 2019, is now a liability.

A no-confidence vote was held Monday by the party, but Johnson prevailed.

Who investigated the parties?

The British Metropolitan Police investigated the scandal. The investigation took four months and cost £460,000, close to $500,000. Officers sifted through hundreds of documents per Sky News.

An internal investigation was also done by Susan Gray, a senior civil servant, according to the BBC. In January, Gray delivered an initial report, with a full report coming after police released its investigations.

The report, according to BBC, showed that junior staffers thought they were OK to participate because older staffers and political advisers were also in attendance. The internal investigation also found several photos taken at some events.

Who was fined?

British authorities refused to release the names of individuals fined, but among leaders, Johnson was fined, along with his wife Carrie Johnson, Chancellor Rishi Sunak, and Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, according to BBC News.

What were the investigation results?

The British Metropolitan Police Department said it issued 126 fixed-penalty notices to 83 people for gatherings on eight dates between May 2020 — at the height of the first wave of the U.K.’s pandemic — and April 2021. Some people received multiple fines.

These findings angered voters and members of Johnson’s party, some of whom have called on him to resign.

Tuesday 5:48 a.m.: It’s a tragedy to contract the disease and “incredibly heartbreaking” to die from it, as dozens of Halton families have witnessed over the past several months.

This interactive map tracks COVID-19 deaths across Halton Region by municipalities.

Both Halton Region and Ontario’s Ministry of Health are tracking positive cases of the deadly disease along with the number of people who have died from coronavirus, on a daily basis.

There have been confirmed cases across each municipality of Halton, including more than 200 deaths.

Monday 11:45 p.m. There are initial signs that California’s latest wave of coronavirus cases may be slowing, although it’ll take more time to be certain.

California reported an average of 13,800 new coronavirus cases a day over the past week, according to data released Friday, down 12% from the previous week. That’s 247 cases a week for every 100,000 residents. A rate of 100 cases a week for every 100,000 residents is considered a high rate of viral transmission.

The trend is the first week-over-week decrease in cases in two months.

One big question, however, is whether reporting delays from the Memorial Day weekend are contributing to the decrease. It’s still possible that gatherings from the holiday weekend and during the summer will worsen transmission levels.

Monday 10 p.m. Florida’s COVID-19 data was so inaccurate, incomplete and delayed during the first months of the pandemic that government officials and the public may not have had necessary information to determine the effectiveness of the state’s COVID-19 precautions and the best plan to fight the virus, according to a state report released Monday.

Covering the state’s pandemic response from March to October 2020, the year-long analysis by the State Auditor General found missing case and death data, unreported demographic details, and incomplete contact tracing as the virus spread across the state. In addition, the report concluded that state health officials did not perform routine checks on the data to ensure accuracy and did not follow up on discrepancies.

Yet one top state health official, Department of Health spokesperson Jeremy Redfern, said the Auditor General’s report was flawed.

Redfern said “some of the conclusions come from (the auditors’) misunderstanding of the purpose of different datasets,” adding that “the report does not address the huge advancements we’ve made in modernizing our reporting systems.”

Monday 7 p.m. Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson survived a no-confidence vote Monday called by rebel lawmakers from his ruling Conservative party who wanted to oust him as leader, in part over allegations of drunken government parties held during COVID-19 lockdowns.

Johnson’s critics failed to oust him in a 211-to-148 simple majority vote, a victory that means he can’t be challenged by his party for at least another year. However, the fact that the secret-ballot vote happened at all leaves him politically wounded. Johnson’s predecessor, Theresa May, survived a no-confidence vote in 2018 but resigned six months later.

Johnson faired worse in Monday’s vote than May did four years ago.

The vote was called by Conservative lawmakers concerned over a collapse in Johnson’s poll ratings following revelations of parties in Downing Street and other government buildings during coronavirus lockdowns. Some Conservative lawmakers have found it difficult to defend.

Late last month, an investigator’s report on what has become known as “partygate” slammed a culture of alcohol-fueled parties and rule-breaking inside Johnson’s No. 10 Downing St. office at a time when pandemic restrictions prevented U.K. residents from socializing or even visiting dying relatives.

A growing number of Conservatives feel that Johnson — the charismatic if gaffe-prone leader who won them a huge parliamentary majority in 2019 — is now a liability. Some 60% of the British public would like him removed from office, according to YouGov, a polling and research firm.

All 359 Conservative lawmakers took part in Monday’s vote and the 148 who voted against Johnson — 40% — was also a worse showing than a 1995 no-confidence vote against then-British Minister John Major.

When Johnson succeeded May as Britain’s leader he led the Conservatives to their biggest general election win since former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1987.

In brief remarks, Johnson called the vote “decisive” and a “very good result overall” and said “what we need to do now is come together as a government and a party.”

Johnson’s allies, too, attempted to describe the result as positive for the prime minister, with Nadhim Zahawi, the education secretary, claiming Johnson had won the vote “handsomely.” But Sir Keir Starmer of the main opposition Labour Party characterized the outcome as amounting to a “divided” Conservative party “propping up” Johnson.

Monday 6:18 p.m. U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has tested positive for COVID-19 and is experiencing mild symptoms, he wrote Monday on Twitter.

Buttigieg spoke at the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Mackinac Policy Conference on Mackinac Island last Wednesday and traveled Thursday to Saginaw for an announcement about rail investment.

“I plan to work remotely while isolating according to CDC guidelines, and look forward to when I can safely return to the office and the road,” he tweeted.

Buttigieg was in close contact with several of Michigan’s leading state and federal officials during the annual policy conference at Mackinac Island’s Grand Hotel, where masks were not required and sparsely used indoors.

It is unclear whether Buttigieg caught COVID-19 from the conference, and a spokesperson for Buttigieg said department officials are not aware of anyone he came in close contact with testing positive for the virus.