Boris Johnson and chancellor Rishi Sunak could have to self-isolate for a fortnight after it was confirmed they had a Downing Street meeting with Alok Sharma before he fell ill at the Commons despatch box.
The Prime Minister and the chancellor had a 45 minute face to face meeting with the Business Secretary on Tuesday morning, 24 hours before he fell ill with suspected coronavirus.
Sharma is currently self-isolating at home awaiting the results of a covid-19 test after he started sweating profusely and sniffing while making a speech to MPs in the Commons on Wednesday.
The episode sparked concerns that dozens of politicians have been at risk of infection and will now have to go into quarantine.
Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said it would be “premature” to suggest Sharma had the virus and suggested he “may well have had severe hay fever, we’re not sure yet”.
If the 52-year-old Minister’s test proves positive for covid-19 he will have to give the names and contact details of people he has been in close contact with in the 48 hours before your symptoms started.
Downing Street insisted Tuesday’s meeting of the three ministers in the cabinet room was carried out in accordance to social distancing rules.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman said test and trace guidance was “not as simple as saying if you have been in a room with someone who has tested positive for coronavirus you are required to self-isolate”.
But the spokesman said Johnson “will follow the medical guidance” if contacted by covid-19 tracers.
The PM became seriously ill with coronavirus in March but there is no medical consensus on whether having had the virus gives a person immunity to re-infection.
The development came as anger over the controversial decision to physically recall MPs to the Commons to take part in votes grew.
SNP MP Amy Callaghan tweeted: “So because Jacob Rees-Mogg put on his big-boy pants and wanted to play politics, other people — including workers across the entire estate — may have been exposed to COVID-19.”
On Tuesday Jacob Rees-Mogg, the leader of the Commons, forced MPs to vote in half mile long conga queues to return to physical sittings in Parliament.
The Prime Minister has made concessions to allow MPs who cannot attend due to age and health issues to participate via Zoom and to vote by proxy.
Labour described the U-turn on who could and could not attend as “chaotic” and angry MPs attacked Rees-Mogg saying the motions do not go far enough.
The SNP’s Philippa Whitford tweeted: “Hope Alok Sharma recovers quickly but he should have stopped immediately. The Commons despatch box is deep cleaned but can’t clean every door handle he touched since Monday when he became infectious!”
