Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

British Secretary Dorries Tests Positive for Corona


Wed 11 Mar 2020 | 05:44 AM
Yassmine Elsayed

Hours ago, British Secretary of State for Health Nadine Dorries confirmed that she tests positive for Corona virus and that she was subject to self-isolation.

The British minister, 62, explained in a statement that she took "all recommended precautions" as soon as she was informed of her diagnosis.

“Public Health England has started detailed contact tracing and the department and my parliamentary office are closely following their advice.

“I would like to thank PHE and the wonderful NHS staff who have provided me with advice and support.”

She noted to her fears about her 84-year-old mother who was staying with her and began to cough on Tuesday.

The minister later posted this:

It is not known how many meetings Ms Dorries had attended at Westminster or in her constituency in recent days.

The Department of Health said she first showed symptoms on Thursday - the same day she attended a Downing Street event hosted by the prime minister - and had been under self-isolation since Friday.

Earlier, the conservative MP and junior health minister met hundreds of people in Parliament last week and attended a meeting with Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

The 10 Downing Street did not comment on whether Boris Johnson had undergone testing, or whether he will now be tested.

All health ministers, including Health Secretary Matt Hancock, are to undergo testing for the virus, along with other officials who have come into contact with Ms Dorries.

On his part, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Twitter that he was "very sorry" to hear the diagnosis of Dorrirs. "She did the right thing by isolating herself at home."

Health officials in Britain announced on Tuesday that the number of death toll in the country as a result of coronavirus infection had risen to six; hence, the number of infection cases rose to 373.

According to BBC, the latest person to die was a man in his early 80s who had underlying health conditions.

Meanwhile, NHS England said it was scaling up its capacity for testing people for the infection, with the number of cases set to rise.

That will mean 10,000 tests a day can be done - currently 1,500 are being carried out.

Confirmation of any positive test results will also be accelerated with most people getting a result back within 24 hours.