UK Health Secretary resigns after breaching COVID-19 protocols

British health minister Matt Hancock has quit his position after he was caught breaking COVID-19 rules.

The move came on Saturday, after it was revealed that he had been caught kissing and embracing an aide in his office, who has also reportedly left her role.

Hancock wrote to Prime Minister Boris Johnson to resign, saying he had let people down.

An increasing number of his fellow Conservative lawmakers had privately called for him to go after the Sun newspaper published photos on Friday of the married minister embracing a woman whom he had appointed to a taxpayer-funded role to scrutinise his department.

"Those of us who make these rules have got to stick by them and that's why I've got to resign," the 42-year-old said in a video on Twitter.

Hancock had been at the centre of the government's fight against the pandemic, routinely appearing on television to tell people to follow strict rules and to defend his department against criticism of its response to the crisis.

He will be replaced by Sajid Javid, a former finance minister with widespread government experience but new to health.

Javid will be tasked with helping the state-run health service recover from the pandemic and to deal with any future infection waves.

Cases have started to rise in the last month.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday that he had accepted Hancock's apology and considered the matter to be closed.

He said on Saturday he was sorry to receive the resignation.

"You should be immensely proud of your service," he wrote in reply to Hancock. "I am grateful for your support and believe that your contribution to public service is far from over."

Labour leader Keir Starmer said on Twitter that Hancock was right to resign, but added: "Boris Johnson should have sacked him."

While cases have started to rise - up 18,000 on Saturday - vaccines appear to have weakened the link between infections and deaths and most restrictions could be dropped by July 19.