Health Secretary is self-isolating after being alerted by Covid-19 app

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said he is self-isolating after being alerted by the UK’s NHS Covid-19 app.

The West Suffolk MP said self-isolation was “perhaps the most important part of all the social distancing” and urged others to do the same if contacted.

In a tweet Mr Hancock said he would be working from home until Sunday, adding “we all have a part to play in getting this virus under control”.

He contracted coronavirus in March 2020 and suffered “mild symptoms”.

Mr Hancock said he learned from the app he had been “in close contact with somebody who’s tested positive” and so self-isolating was “how we break the chains of transmission”.

“So you must follow these rules like I’m going to,” he said. “I’ve got to work from home for the next six days, and together, by doing this, by following this, and all the other panoply of rules that we’ve had to put in place, we can get through this and beat this virus.”