Health minister Nadine Dorries has today revealed one of her staff has now ‘gone down’ with coronavirus after she tested positive and went into self-isolation for the next fortnight.
Ms Dorries has sent a message to the Tory MP WhatsApp group this morning asking them to come forward if they were near her in Parliament because it is ‘hard to remember everyone’.
She said: ‘My staff member has gone down with it too. I haven’t yet given a list to the contact tracers. Hard to remember every single person I was in contact with last week. If you sat next to me in the tea room or library etc please let me know’.
Senior Government ministers including Boris Johnson could be tested for coronavirus because she was with the Prime Minister at a Downing Street reception to mark International Women’s Day last Thursday.
She is likely to have contact with hundreds of people in the past week while carrying the deadly virus – and today Labour’s Rachael Maskell became the first MP to self-isolate for 14 days after she had a meeting with Ms Dorries last Thursday.
The MP for Mid-Bedfordshire began feeling ill on Friday and last appeared at the despatch box in the Commons last Wednesday at a time where she will have been carrying the virus but was not yet showing the symptoms.
Her positive test result will increase calls for parts of Parliament to shut to be sanitised – but MailOnline can reveal that while the Commons is cleaned every day it has not had a deep clean ahead of today’s budget, which will see the chamber packed with MPs.
March 4: Nadine was last on the floor of the Commons last Wednesday and is likely to have been carrying coronavirus then and didn’t know it
Nadine Dorries was with Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Priti Patel at Downing Street on January 8
The MP is pictured here with her 84-year-old mother, in 2018, who she admitted she was worried about after she came down with a cough
The Under-Secretary of State for Health, who has met hundreds of people in Parliament over the past week and held a surgery on Saturday for 50 of her constituents. She will have been in contact with or close to dozens more.
Tests confirmed last night that the 62-year-old had the virus and she is now in isolation and said to be recovering.
But the MP has now voiced fears for her 84-year-old mother, who is living at her home and ‘began coughing’ yesterday.
As a former nurse, Mrs Dorries has played a key role in drawing up plans to tackle the virus.
She met hundreds of people last week, including a large number of MPs, and attended a conference outside Westminster. On Thursday she attended a Downing Street event hosted by Mr Johnson to mark International Women’s Day.
She started feeling ill on Friday as she was signing a statutory instrument that declared coronavirus to be a ‘notifiable disease’, enabling companies to obtain insurance cover.
The health minister held the surgery in her Mid Bedfordshire constituency on Saturday.
Over the weekend she experienced the ‘classic symptoms’ of the disease – a dry cough, high temperature and ‘vice-like’ pain in her chest.
Her shock diagnosis came as:
- The deputy chief medical officer warned the start of the peak of the epidemic could be within a fortnight;
- Heath officials announced 61 more patients in Britain have caught the killer infection, taking the total number of cases to 382 and fatalities to six
- Italy’s death toll rose by 168 to 631 and its 60million citizens went into lockdown;
- Thousands of Britons were effectively stranded in Italy after BA cancelled all flights and other airlines followed suit;
- A row erupted over the screening of passengers arriving on the few remaining flights from Italy as some countries closed their borders to Italian arrivals;
- Tonight’s Premier League match between Manchester City and Arsenal was postponed after the owner of Olympiacos – whose side played at Arsenal on February 27 – got the virus;
- A big increase in online outpatient appointments for the elderly is being planned to save on trips to hospital;
- The NHS is scaling up virus testing capacity to 10,000 a day;
- Harvard said it would begin moving to online classes, with British universities under pressure to follow suit;
- A top surgeon was struck down after returning from a skiing trip to Italy – but had treated patients in the meantime.
Mrs Dorries, who is a mother of three, said: ‘I can confirm I have tested positive for coronavirus. As soon as I was informed I took all the advised precautions and have been self-isolating at home.
‘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 added on social media: ‘It’s been pretty rubbish but I hope I’m over the worst of it now. More worried about my 84-year-old mum who is staying with me and began with the cough today. She is being tested tomorrow. Keep safe and keep washing those hands, everyone.’
Health minister Nadine Dorries fell ill on Friday and was diagnosed with coronavirus on Tuesday evening
Prime Minister Boris Johnson with Nadine Dorries bricklaying in Bedford last November
Dorries shared this picture of her mother on her 84th birthday at the end of February
In a tweet Nadine Dorries said she was ‘over the worst of it’ following her coronavirus diagnosis
Matt Hancock wished his colleague Mrs Dorries well as she battles to recover from the virus
Matt Hancock, who as Health Secretary is her boss, was last night understood to be fit and well and not showing any symptoms.
He tweeted last night: ‘Really sorry to hear Nadine has tested positive for coronavirus.
‘She has done the right thing by self isolating at home, and both NHS and PHE staff have been brilliant.
‘We all wish her well as she recovers.
‘I understand why people are worried about this disease.
‘We will do all we can to keep people safe, based on the best possible science.’
Mr Hancock’s sentiments were echoed by the shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth, who tweeted: ‘I send my very, very best wishes to @NadineDorries and absolutely endorse (what) @MattHancock is saying.
‘I know this is an extremely worrying time for our constituents.
‘Our NHS & PHE staff are doing us all proud in very challenging circumstances.’
The news will raise fears that Parliament may have to be closed or that restrictions will have to be placed on visitors.
A government source said: ‘As with everything, we are being guided by the science on this.
‘This will be treated like any other standard case.’
MPs lined up to offer their support last night after the news broke.
Mrs Dorries had been part of a team that drew up legislation to tackle coronavirus before she fell ill.
Officials are in the process of identifying all people she has been in contact with since contracting the virus, including MPs.
Any who have displayed similar symptoms will be tested.
Nadine Dorries getting a flu jab last November as part of a campaign to encourage people to remember to get vaccinated
Labour MP Angela Rayner said: ‘Whilst l almost never agree with Nadine Dorries on anything politically, I do wish her a speedy recovery against this wretched coronavirus.’
It was reported last week that plans were being considered to suspend Parliament for five months.
One source said there were potentially ‘650 superspreaders’ in the House of Commons because its MPs divide their time between Westminster and their seats.
