British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson has said he is feeling “great” on his first working day in self-isolation in Downing Street – after meeting an MP who later tested positive for Covid-19.
In a tweet, he urged others to “follow the rules” and self-isolate if contacted by NHS Test and Trace.
On Thursday Mr Johnson spent about 35 minutes with Tory MP Lee Anderson, who lost his sense of taste the next day.
Anderson, the MP for Ashfield, posted a photo on Facebook on Thursday, where he and Johnson stood side by side, both unmasked. Anderson said in the Facebook post that he had breakfast with Johnson at 10 Downing Street, the prime minister’s official residence.
On Sunday Anderson posted that he was “isolating” and that both he and his wife tested positive, referring to a tweet by BBC journalist Laura Kuenssberg that Anderson had the novel coronavirus. According to Anderson’s Facebook post, he was tested Saturday and received results on Sunday.
A Downing Streets spokesperson said that Johnson did not have coronavirus symptoms but was self-isolating in accordance with the UK’s coronavirus rules. He was told to self-isolate by the National Health Service’s test and trace app.
The PM’s period of isolation begins as the government prepares a policy relaunch after fierce internal rows and departures from No 10.
Downing Street said a series of “critical announcements” would this week detail Mr Johnson’s “ambitions for the United Kingdom”.
Mr Johnson will chair “key Covid meetings” and work with Chancellor Rishi Sunak to devise the upcoming spending review with an aim to fulfil his promise to “build back better”.
The PM will now be working from his flat at Downing Street.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock will hold a No 10 news conference later, which the prime minister had been expected to lead.
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