UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab in quarantine after COVID-19 contact

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is self-isolating himself after coming into a close contact with someone who later tested positive for the coronavirus.

The senior Cabinet minister will be in isolation for two weeks but will continue to work remotely during that period in keeping with the government guidelines, said the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in a statement on Thursday.

“The Foreign Secretary was today informed that an individual with whom he has been in recent close contact has tested positive for coronavirus,” said a foreign office spokesperson.

In line with government regulations and NHS (National Health Service) Track and Trace rules, the Foreign Secretary has taken immediate steps to self-isolate for the required period. He will continue to work remotely during this time,the spokesperson said.The individual in question who tested positive remains unknown but is not believed to be another minister, Member of Parliament or a member of the government.

Raab is not said to be displaying any coronavirus symptoms. As the First Secretary of State, he had deputised for Boris Johnson earlier this year when the UK Prime Minister was in intensive care following his positive COVID-19 test.

It came at a time when UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock also tested positive for the coronavirus and so did Prince Charles, and they both went into self-isolations with symptoms.It recently emerged that Prince William had also tested positive for coronavirus around that time in April, but his illness was kept under wraps as he did not want to alarm people.

Earlier this week, Downing Street had to stress that UK Business Secretary Alok Sharma, like all ministers, was following COVID-19 guidelines after it emerged that he had travelled to South Korea on government business only days after coming into contact with staff who later tested positive for the contagion.

He had no close contact with the individual prior to his departure and has not been told to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace, the Indian-origin minister’s spokesperson said.

According to Johns Hopkins coronavirus tracker, the coronavirus has so far infected more than 48 million people and killed over 1.2 million people globally. The UK has over 1.12 million cases and more than 48,000 deaths.