Health minister Gillian Keegan has apologised for continuing with an in-person meeting with bereaved parents after she was told that she had tested positive for Covid.
The Conservative MP said was informed that a lateral flow test had returned a positive result on Tuesday whilst speaking to a group in her role as minister for care and mental health.
The minister said those at the meeting consented to carrying on with the discussion – but admitted to “an error of judgment” by failing to leave.
“I told them the result and took further precautions but with their consent, I stayed for a short period to hear their stories,” Ms Keegan said in a Twitter thread.
“I should have immediately ended the meeting and on reflection this was an error of judgment on my part.”
The health minister added: “I fully recognise the importance of following the letter and spirit of the policies, so want to be upfront about what happened and to apologise for the mistake I made.”
The meeting was with three men who had lost their daughters to suicide. Ms Keegan did not specify what precautions she took at the meeting after getting the positive result.
Health secretary Sajid Javid has accepted Ms Keegan’s apology after speaking to her about Tuesday’s events and “continues to support her in her role”.
A spokesman for the cabinet minister said: “The secretary of state has spoken with the minister who has taken responsibility for her actions and made a full apology. He accepts her apology and continues to support her in her role.”
The minister said she was now isolating at home after the test on Tuesday and “fortunately feel fine”.
The government’s current Covid rules say an individual must isolate from others “straight away” if the test positive from a lateral flow result. People in England can end their Covid self-isolation after five days, so long as they test negative on both day five and day six.
Follow health minister Ed Argar, doing the media round for the government, said Ms Keegan had “made an error of judgement” but had apologised.
“She has clearly issued a fulsome apology there, that she did make an error of judgement. She was open about that and she accepted she made an error of judgement,” he told ITV’s Good Morning Britain.
Asked about the apparent breach of the rules, Labour’s shadow Treasury minister Pat McFadden said: “Well, I think if you test positive you should probably go home.”
He added: “I think after two years people are a bit weary of this, but still, if you test positive, best thing to do is go home.”
