MICHAEL Russell has described Scotland's chief medical officer's decision to visit her second in Fife yesterday as “ill advised".
Dr Catherine Calderwood and her family were pictured near their coastal retreat in Earlsferry despite the CMO repeatedly issuing warnings to people to stay at home to stop the spread of the coronavirus and help save lives and protect the NHS.
She is now facing calls from the Scottish LibDems, Tories and Greens to step down.
The CMO expected to address the episode when she appears later today at the daily Covid-19 press briefing.
READ MORE: Police issue warning to chief medical officer Catherine Calderwood
But speaking on the BBC this morning the Constitutional Affairs Secretary, who represents Argyll and Bute said the visit was ill-advised, adding: "I represent a constituency which as you know has lots of holiday home and I have been doing my best with others to say please do not come.
"So I think Catherine will lay that out at the briefing and perhaps that is a lesson for all of us we need to think about the real detail of this, what is looks like and what we do and we should judge our actions every moment of the day to make sure we are observing the guidelines we have, the rules we have."
Pressed that her action compromised the stay at home message, Russell said: "Catherine is going to speak at the briefing. She'll be answerable to this as she has been every single day....but the reality is the message does not change...and remember by breaking them you are risking lives."
In a statement issued this morning Calderwood apologised for her action.
She said: “While there are reasons for what I did, they do not justify it and they were not legitimate reasons to be out of my home.
"While I and my family followed the guidance on social distancing at all times, I understand that I did not follow the advice I am giving to others, and I am truly sorry for that.
“I know how important this advice is and I do not want my mistake to distract from that. I have a job to do as Chief Medical Officer to provide advice to Ministers on the path of this virus and to support the medical profession as they work night and day to save lives, and having spoken with the First Minister this morning I will continue to focus entirely on that job.”
READ MORE: Catherine Calderwood 'truly sorry' for visiting second home during lockdown
A photograph of Calderwood and her family was published in The Scottish Sun late on Saturday.
This morning the MP and MSP for North East Fife have called for the CMO to step down after the “massive error in judgement”.
Willie Rennie and Wendy Chamberlain of the Scottish LibDems said that tension in the East Neuk was already high with holidaymakers and second homeowners flocking to the area over the weekend, and say it ”added insult to injury that the Chief Medic was one of them”.
A joint statement reads: “It is difficult to see how the Chief Medical Officer will be able to carry the important messages about the virus and the lockdown if she has not even followed it herself.
"There is no doubt she has worked incredibly hard and led the country well through the early stages of this crisis.
"Yet it is difficult to see how she can continue to do that when she has made this massive error of judgement."
Scottish Conservative leader Jackson Carlaw also called for the CMO to quit.
He said: "Dr Calderwood's position is very difficult, untenable even, given the damage this has caused public trust.
“The vast majority of Scots are complying with official advice to stay home and protect our NHS.
"There cannot be one rule for the bosses and another one for everyone else.“
Scottish Greens health spokesperson Alison Johnstone added:
“This is irresponsible from the Chief Medical Officer and undermines the hard work she and her team have undoubtedly been doing during this crisis. She has admitted the reasons for her travelling to her second home were ‘not legitimate’.
“While the majority of people have adhered to the strict guidelines to stay at home, put in place to keep us safe, there are still sadly too many people getting out and about.
"If that is to improve we need clear leadership from those at the top, and that includes setting an example. Unfortunately, Ms Calderwood can no longer credibly front the public campaign”
But speaking on BBC Breakfast, national clinical director Jason Leitch said he was confident Calderwood had observed social distancing rules.
"My understanding is that she has worked like the rest of us 24/7 on this for weeks now and that family do have a home a little bit away from Edinburgh and they went to check on it.
"They observed social distancing throughout, so they were very safe. Nobody knows those guidelines better than Catherine and the rest of us.
"So I'm confident that she was safe during that, her family were safe and those around them were safe."
A Scottish Government spokesman said on Saturday: "Since this start of this epidemic, the CMO has been working seven days a week preparing Scotland's response.
"She took the opportunity this weekend to check on a family home in Fife as she knows she will not be back again until the crisis is over.
"She stayed overnight before returning to Edinburgh.
"In line with guidance, she stayed within her own household group and observed social distancing with anyone she was in passing in the village."
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