Ministers won’t be tested for coronavirus despite Nadine Dorries’ prognonsis

The Conservative MP said she has been self-isolating at home after testing positive, and her parliamentary office has closed following advice from Public Health England.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said she first exhibited symptoms at some time on Thursday – the same day she attended a Downing Street event hosted by Boris Johnson to mark International Women’s Day.

Number 10 did not comment on whether the prime minister had undergone testing for the coronavirus, or whether he will now be tested.

DHSC said there were no plans for any minsters to be tested, but could not confirm the same for officials or advisers. Contact tracing is under way, a spokesman said.

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A Conservative MP confirmed to the PA news agency that Dorries has sent a message to the Tory WhatsApp group saying that a member of her staff is ill.

The MP who confirmed the message had been sent said the parliamentary party is ‘fairly relaxed and determined to carry on working’.

Dorries, the 62-year-old MP for Mid Bedfordshire, who began her career as a nurse, has been self-isolating at home since Friday.