Ireland’s European Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan is not the first politician to lose his job since the coronavirus pandemic swirled round the world. 

Other officials have also had to stand down over the past few months for having, like Hogan, breached lockdown restrictions or having openly disagreed with the way the pandemic is being managed.

String of resignations in Ireland

Hogan follows two senior Irish politicians who resigned after breaching government coronavirus guidelines to attend the parliamentary golf society’s 50th anniversary dinner.

Agriculture minister Dara Calleary and deputy chair of parliament’s upper chamber Jerry Buttimer quit after the event in a County Galway hotel on August 19 gained public attention.

The event, which gathered more than 80 people, took place on the day after indoor meetings of more than six people were banned.

On August 15, the chief of the Irish tourism development agency, Catherine Martin, also resigned after spending her holidays in Italy, defying a call to holiday in Ireland.

Paraguay’s deputy health minister

On August 24, Paraguay’s deputy health minister, Juan Carlos Portillo, resigned after videos were broadcast on social media showing him taking part in a party, just after restrictions had been put in place to fight the pandemic.

Ghana’s trade secretary

On July 3, Ghana’s state secretary for commerce and industry Carlos Kingsley Ahenkorah, who had tested positive for COVID-19, resigned for not respecting rules on self-isolation and continuing campaigning in polling stations ahead of legislative elections.

Chile’s health minister

On June 13, Chilean health minister Jaime Manalich resigned after a week of controversy over his management of the pandemic. He was criticized for being too late in imposing confinement measures and playing down the impact of the virus.

His resignation came as the number of cases explodes in the country and just as a row rages over the method of counting.

UK controversy over PM’s aide

In Britain, there has been public outrage that Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s most senior adviser, Dominic Cummings, kept his job despite flouting coronavirus restrictions. 

On May 26, Scotland Secretary Douglas Ross resigned in protest.

Cummings failed to convince the public with his explanation that he visited his parents in Durham in northern England, hundreds of kilometers from London, because he feared being infected by the coronavirus and was looking for someone to care for his child.

His failure to apologize and Johnson’s support came in for particular criticism.

Housing minister Robert Jenrick also escaped sanction for breaking lockdown rules.

Brazil’s health minister

Brazil’s health minister Nelson Teich resigned on May 15 following disagreements with the government over how to fight the coronavirus, especially over the question of the chloroquine treatment.

He had in mid-April replaced popular health minister Henrique Mandetta, who had been fired over deep disagreements with the far-right president Jair Bolsonaro. – Rappler.com