A TORY minister is in a new Westminster coronavirus scare after attending a spy summit with an Australian MP who has now tested positive.
James Brokenshire is now working from home after attending a “five eyes” security event in Washington last week alongside now infected Aussie MP Peter Dutton.
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Discussing how to keep children safe online, they were joined at the event by the President’s daughter, Ivanka Trump.
Now Mr Dutton has revealed he has the virus, the Tory MP is now working from home.
He said: “I am very sorry to hear that the Australian Interior Minister Peter Dutton has tested positive for coronavirus and hope he makes a speedy recovery.
“I had a breakfast meeting with Peter in Washington last week as well as joining him for a 90 minute round table event at the White House on online child safety and subsequent press conference.
“Although I am feeling fit and well and have no obvious symptoms, from a precautionary principle I have decided to work from home for the next week.”
His announcement comes as the Australian MP this morning revealed he woke up with “a temperature and sore throat”.
Mr Dutton was then tested and advised to stay home after the test was positive.
Yesterday a seventh British MP went into self-isolation after having lunch with Nadine Dorries.
Andrew Bridgen revealed this week he had decided to stay at home after developing a cough as coronavirus fears reached fever pitch in Westminster.
It comes after health minister Nadine Dorries was diagnosed with the bug earlier this week – sparking panic in the Houses of Parliament.
One of her staff also fell ill, raising fears of an outbreak in Parliament as officials tried to trace people she was in contact with.
Cabinet Minster Anne Marie Trevelyan revealed today she was also tested for coronavirus, but the test came back negative.
She’s been advised to self-isolate for a further 7 days “as a precaution” and will be “cracking on with the job remotely”.
Health Minister Edward Argar has also self isolated after having lunch with Ms Dorries last week.
He was seen coughing at the dispatch box in the Commons yesterday.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab admitted he had been tested after he coughed repeatedly during today’s Budget.
He said he was “at the tail end of a cold”, adding: “I’ve been checked and it was negative.”
It comes one day on from Boris Johnson warning “many more families” will lose loved ones to coronavirus as he moved the UK into the ‘delay’ phase of his battleplan for the deadly bug.
The Government yesterday told anyone with a mild cough or temperature to stay at home for seven days following a COBRA meeting – as the total number of UK cases hit 596, with 10 deaths.
The second stage of Boris’ four-part battleplan, “delay” means Britain will now aim to slow down the spread of coronavirus and reduce the number of people being infected to delay the peak.
Mr Johnson has decided to keep schools open despite Ireland announcing it would shut theirs down until the end of March to try and stop the spread.
