Boris Johnson may have to self-isolate if Alok Sharma tests positive for coronavirus

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Downing Street has acknowledged that Boris Johnson may have to follow test and trace orders to self-isolate if Alok Sharma tests positive for coronavirus.

With the Business Secretary awaiting the results of a test, the Prime Minister’s spokesman revealed that he had met Mr Johnson and Rishi Sunak for a 45-minute in Number 10 earlier this week.

They added that if Mr Sharma had contracted coronavirus, he would work with the new test and trace system to help identify potential contacts.

Under the new regime, anyone deemed to have been at risk of being infected is asked to self-isolate for 14 days.

However, the spokesman insisted that meetings in Number 10 were always “properly socially distanced” and that Mr Sharma was not believed to have come within two metres of either the Prime Minister or Chancellor.

He also pointed out that the guidance sets out that people who meet face-to-face closer than one metre or hold conversations for more than 15 minutes at two metres apart are those likely to be deemed at risk.

But when pressed on whether Mr Johnson would self-isolate if asked to do so, the spokesman said: “I would expect us to take the medical advice and to follow it."

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