Boris Johnson to isolate for COVID exposure following public backlash

Catch up fast: 10 Downing Street initially announced that the prime minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak would not isolate to take part in a pilot program in which they'd go to the office to continue "essential Government business." The decision was reversed three hours later.

What they're saying: "I recognise that even the sense that the rules aren’t the same for everyone is wrong," Sunak wrote on Twitter Sunday. "To that end I’ll be self isolating as normal and not taking part in the pilot."

State of play: The majority of pandemic-related restrictions in England will be lifted Monday despite coronavirus cases rising by more than 50,000 a day, as the nation deals with the spread of variants of the virus, per Reuters.