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British health minister Nadine Dorries tests positive for coronavirus

A British health minister has tested positive for the coronavirus.

Conservative politician Nadine Dorries is the first member of Parliament to catch COVID-19, the BBC reported.

Dorries, who has served as parliamentary undersecretary of state for health and social care since 2019, is self-isolating at home.

“Public Health England has started detailed contact tracing and the department and my parliamentary office are closely following their advice,” she said in a statement.

Dorries, 62, attended an International Women’s Day event with Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday, the day before she fell ill, according to the Mirror.

She was also in close contact with hundreds of people in Parliament in the past week,

Dorries helped draft legislation to tackle the coronavirus outbreak.

Matt Hancock, the secretary of state for health and social care, tweeted that he was “really sorry to hear” Dorries had tested positive.

“She has done the right thing by self isolating at home …,” Hancock wrote. “We all wish her well as she recovers.”

The UK has 382 cases of the virus and six people there have died of the flu-like illness.