How did Nadine Dorries contract coronavirus?
HEALTH Minister Nadine Dorries has become the first British MP to test positive for the coronavirus.
Her diagnosis came after the number of Covid-19 cases in the UK rose to 382, and a sixth death was confirmed.
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How did Nadine Dorries contract coronavirus?
The reports that the identity of the person who infected Nadine Dorries is not known.
The Health Minister, 62, noticed initial symptoms at some stage on Thursday, March 5.
This was the same day that she attended a Downing Street event hosted by Boris Johnson to mark International Women's Day.
His pregnant fiancee, Carrie Symonds, was also at the No 10 reception.
On Friday, March 6, she signed a statutory document which declared the virus as a "notifiable disease", which allows firms to get insurance cover.
But later that day Ms Dorries started feeling more poorly.
However, the MP for Mid Bedfordshire attended her surgery to meet constituents on Saturday, where she spoke with 50 people.
Ms Dorries - a former nurse - then began self-isolating at home after experiencing "classic symptoms" of the virus.
She suffered from a dry cough, high temperature, and a "vice-like" pain in her chest, The Times adds.
It took several days to receive a positive diagnosis for the coronavirus - which was confirmed on Tuesday, March 10.
There are fears that she might have passed on the disease to others, as up until Friday the MP been working alongside colleagues at Parliament, and the Department of Health and Social Care.
A junior minister in the Department of Health, Ms Dorries met hundreds of people in Parliament the week before her diagnosis.
After news broke about her positive diagnosis, she said: "As soon as I was informed I took all the advised precautions and have been self-isolating at home.
"Public Health England has started detailed contact tracing and the department and my parliamentary office are closely following their advice."
The MP - arguably best known by some for her appearance on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here in 2012 - tweeted that she was more concerned about her elderly mum becoming infected with the coronavirus.
What happens now to Parliament?
All health ministers, including Health Secretary Matt Hancock, could now be tested for the virus, as well as any other officials who have recently come into contact with Ms Dorries.
Number 10 has not commented on whether the Prime Minister has yet or will now be tested.
A parliamentary spokesman said there were still no plans to suspend Parliament.
"We are closely following guidance from Public Health England in response to the situation and have been reassured that the measures we are taking are proportionate and appropriate," he said.
The spokesman added: "At present there are no plans to suspend Parliament.
"Changes to the way Parliament functions would be a matter for consultation between the Speakers, the Government and the parliamentary authorities."
Information posters across the parliamentary estate encourage "thorough handwashing".
Further measures that could be taken range from a total ban on palace visitors to shutting down Parliament for three months.
LATEST CORONAVIRUS NEWS
What is coronavirus?
Coronavirus is the name for a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Sars.
The new disease that emerged in Wuhan, China, in December, was named Covid-19, by the World Health Organisation, and has never been seen in humans before the current outbreak.
Coronavirus attacks the respiratory system, causing pneumonia-like lung lesions.