Matt Hancock self-isolating and ‘staying at home until Sunday’

in a video on social media, he explained: “Last night I was pinged by the NHS coronavirus app, so that means I’ll be self-isolating at home, not leaving the house at all until Sunday.

“This self-isolation is perhaps the most important part of all the social distancing because I know from the app that I’ve been in close contact with somebody who’s tested positive, and this is how we break the chains of transmission.”

He added: “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.”

He also did not make clear what time he received the order to self-isolate on Monday.

That evening he appeared at the No 10 press conference alongside NHS England medical director Professor Stephen Powis and Public Health England’s Susan Hopkins.