Raab, Gove and Shapps isolating after foreign minister tests positive

THREE Cabinet ministers were self-isolating yesterday after the Australian deputy prime minister, whom they met earlier this week, tested positive for Covid.

Dominic Raab, the Deputy Prime Minister, Michael Gove, the Communities Secretary, and Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, all met Barnaby Joyce – who tested positive after flying to the United States – during his visit to the UK.

If he is found to have the omicron variant, under the current rules, all three British politicians will have to self-isolate for 10 days.

Guidelines for England state if someone has come into contact with a person who has omicron, an isolation period of 10 days must be observed. This cannot be broken by a negative test result.

However, the rules are due to change, with Boris Johnson announcing as part of his Plan B measures that daily negative test results would be allowed to break the self-isolation rule.

But it remains unclear when this change will come into force. Downing Street sources indicated that it would happen before Christmas, but no date was announced.

Mr Raab is the second most senior Cabinet minister and would take over as prime minister if Mr Johnson had to step back temporarily from his duties. If any of the three men tested positive, it could cause a ripple effect of self-isolation at the top of Government.

Mr Gove attended the Covid-o Cabinet sub-committee and full Cabinet meetings on Wednesday to discuss whether to implement Plan B measures.

A number of positive tests have been recorded in Westminster recently, with one attendee of an event thrown by Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, catching the virus earlier in the week.

Mr Joyce, the leader of the National Party of Australia, said he believed that he had been infected while visiting the UK earlier this week.

He is the most senior Australian politician to have caught Covid during the pandemic.

It is unclear whether he had been infected with the virus when he met the three Cabinet ministers. He was reportedly experiencing mild flu-like symptoms yesterday.

Earlier in the year, the so-called “pingdemic” forced hundreds of thousands of people to isolate after coming into contact with someone with Covid.

The rules changed after frustration at the impact that the large number of NHS app alerts was having on schools and workforces, with negative tests adopted as a way to break out of selfisolation.