A cabinet minister who attended emergency briefings on the government’s response to coronavirus has said she is following the advice of doctors and self-isolating, despite testing negative for the virus.
Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the international development secretary, had come into close contact with health minister Nadine Dorries before the latter tested positive for Covid-19 earlier this week.
It comes as several MPs remain in self-isolation, including the Conservatives’ Andrew Bridgen, who criticised parliament’s response to the pandemic, and said visitors should have been banned from entering the estate.
Ms Trevelyan was with Ms Dorries at the International Women’s Day event hosted by Boris Johnson in Downing Street on 5 March, her spokesperson said. But, unlike the prime minister, she is understood to have come into “particularly close contact” with Ms Dorries, having shared a hug and been together for an extended period.
Ms Trevelyan’s spokesperson said the test “came back negative” on Friday morning, adding: “On the advice of doctors, she is self-isolating for a further seven days as a precaution.”
Ms Dorries said she started feeling unwell on the same day she attended No 10 but did not develop a cough until the following morning. Ms Trevelyan, who is understood not to be exhibiting any symptoms, was planning to continue working from home remotely.
Speaking on Thursday from Downing Street, the prime minister urged people showing symptoms of the virus, however mild, to remain at home in self-isolation for a seven day period.
Government advisers also estimated that up to 10,000 people in the UK are likely to have Covid-19 – many times higher than the current official figure from the Department of Health and Social Care of 590.
“We are in a period when we have got some, but it hasn’t yet taken off,” the chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said alongside the prime minister at a press conference.
Cheltenham MP Alex Chalk is also self-isolating after he said he was contacted by Public Health England (PHE) officials who were carrying out “contact tracing” over Ms Dorries.
He said he and a “number of other MPs” had been contacted by PHE, with his contact with Ms Dorries being in the library last week.
Mr Chalk said he would stay in London rather than return to his constituency but that he would continue working while “completely asymptomatic” and feeling as “fit as a flea”.
William Wragg, MP for Hazel Grove, said that he would also be self-isolating.
“Given symptoms that have developed today, I’m following the up-to-date medical advice and will isolate myself for the next week,” he tweeted. “I will be using the NHS website to seek further advice and arrange to undertake any necessary tests.”
