Coronavirus: Infection of Tory minister Nadine Dorries shows disease can strike anyone, experts warn

MP’s case demonstrates difficulty of controlling spread of coronavirus in community, expert warns

A woman wearing a face mask walks across Westminster Bridge, near the London Eye landmark in central London on March 2, 2020 (AFP/Getty)

A Tory minister being infected with coronavirus shows “the virus can infect all walks of life” and demonstrates just how hard it is to contain, say experts.

Nadine Dorries announced that she has tested positive for Covid-19, and is now in self-isolation. The junior health minister is the first MP to be infected with coronavirus.

“I can confirm I have tested positive for coronavirus,” she said. ”As soon as I was informed I took all the advised precautions and have been self-isolating at home.”

Ms Dorries said Public Health England had begun contact tracing and that her offices had been shut. She thanked PHE and the NHS for the work they had done.

Experts explained the fact the disease has reached the very top of the British state shows how widely it will be expected to spread.

“It just goes to show that none of us are immune to this virus; literally no one,” said Jonathan Ball, professor of molecular virology at the University of Nottingham. ”As with all these cases, it will be important to understand where this infection came from — whether or not it was from a known high-risk area, or part of an unknown community transmission chain.

“Either way, I wish the health minister a speedy recovery. But it does serve to remind all of us just how well this virus can spread. That’s why we have to deal with this thing now — in 10 days time we might be facing a totally different proposition.”

As well as showing how widely the disease is likely to spread, the case is an example of just how hard it is to control, scientists said.

“The example of Nadine Dorries getting infected, developing symptoms and then realising a few days later that she had acquired the coronavirus infection demonstrates the difficulty of controlling the spread of the coronavirus in the community,” said Bharat Pankhania, senior clinical lecturer at the University of Exeter Medical School.

“Because there is community transmission of infection in the UK, people need to develop the mindset that they may get exposed to the coronavirus, at any place, any time, anywhere and thus they practice heightened infection control measures and awareness.”

Authorities will now work to trace how Ms Dorries came to be infected with coronavirus, and to whom she may have passed it on.

“It is unfortunate that Nadine Dorries has contracted the coronavirus, this demonstrates that the virus can infect all walks of life,” Brendan Wren, professor of microbial pathogenesis at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

“Although transmission is not always inevitable, contact tracing will take place to determine how she may have caught the virus and who she may have passed it onto. This may have implications for the operation of parliament.”