I've been asked what I'd do in Dominic Cummings's (alleged) situation of both parents being too ill to look after a 4 yo child. Here's what we did do...

In late 2009, Jo and I both had swine flu. The rules for the infected were much the same...

#DominicCummings #Marr

[thread]

for those infected with coronavirus now: isolate at home and do not leave your home. We had to look after a 4 year old and a baby who then fell ill but couldn't be medicated as he was less than 6 months old. We were both sick & couldn't ensure that our 4 yo...

#DominicCummings

or his baby brother were well taken care of. We stayed at home and made the best job of it we could. No harm came to them aside from contracting the flu themselves. It was the 4 year old who had given us the swine flu, in fact.
I suppose we might have driven...

#DominicCummings

to Kent to ask relatives to look after the boys. I'm not sure how I would have driven given that I had a fever and was exhausted and delirious. But in theory I might have driven and risked sharing my viral infection with other family members and whoever else I met along the way.

We stayed at home because it was the right thing to do, and in any case I was very ill - how could I drive?

Dominic Cummings did not need to travel to Durham for childcare purposes because he was ill. He needed to stay at home but decided not to...

#Marr #CummingsMustGo

Cummings didn't need to drive to Durham. In fact, we needed him not to. He didn't need to drive to a spot 30 miles from his parents' house to go for a walk. In fact, we needed him not to.

#Cummings #SteveBaker

Perhaps people think Cummings has some kind of Schrodinger's family, simultaneously so unwell that the child is in the care of his grandparents whilst all out for a nice walk in the woods chatting to strangers as they pass.

#SchrodingersLockdown

Or maybe Cummings's defenders think covid-19 is Schrodinger's virus: makes you so ill that you cannot guarantee the wellbeing of your child, yet you are well enough to drive all the way from London to Durham and back. Twice.

Anyway, when my family had swine flu in 2009...

...we were able to phone friends to bring us groceries and collect medication for us. Our baby was not yet 6 months old and fell ill with swine flu. He could not be medicated. We were ill and panicking and still we did not leave the house; it was the right thing to stay home.

I am absolutely certain that #DominicCummings could have made a phone call to arrange childcare if he'd needed to.

I'm also certain that people who are too ill to care for their own children are also too ill to drive from London to Durham.

Cummings has no reasonable defence.