British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was self-isolating late Sunday, after coming into contact with someone who later tested positive for the coronavirus.
“I have no symptoms, but am following the rules and will be working from No10 as I continue to lead the government’s pandemic response,” Johnson, who was admitted to intensive care in April after developing Covid-19, wrote on Twitter.
The 56-year-old prime minister had on Thursday spent 35 minutes with Conservative lawmaker Lee Anderson, who tested positive for the virus on Saturday, the news agency Press Association reported.
Neither man was wearing a face mask and the pair were only standing about a metre apart in a picture of the meeting posted by Anderson on Facebook.
The news comes at a difficult time for Johnson, whose office saw the departure of two top aides last week amid factional infighting.
He is engaged in last-ditch attempts to forge a deal with the European Union ahead of the end of a Brexit transition phase in December, as well as dealing with Britain’s widely-criticized coronavirus response.
England is currently in a lockdown due to end on December 2 but the country is still struggling to contain the virus.
The government confirmed another 24,962 cases across Britain on Sunday morning and another 168 deaths, bringing the total number of Covid-related deaths during the pandemic to 51,934.
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