Tory MP now infected with coronavirus appeared in Commons day before meeting Prime Minister

The Tory MP now infected with coronavirus appeared in the Commons the day before his meeting with the Prime Minister that caused Boris Johnson to self-isolate.

Lee Anderson experienced coronavirus symptoms on Friday last week, then received a positive test result on Sunday morning.

Mr Johnson has now been told to avoid others after having a meeting with the Ashfield and Eastwood MP in Downing Street three days ago, where the pair also had breakfast.

It is believed up to 15 MPs may now need to self-isolate, with eight now confirmed to be doing so, including some also in attendance at the meeting.

Lee Anderson appeared in the Commons on Wednesday

These include Lia Nici, Brendan Clarke-Smith, Andy Carter, Katherine Fletcher, Jacob Young and Maria Miller.

A Conservative source explained the MPs were meeting Mr Johnson as part of the Prime Minister’s “reset” as he tries to calm backbenchers after a chaotic week in Downing Street.

It came just one day after the Tory backbencher sat in the Commons during a debate on remembrance and the armed forces.

Not speaking during the debate, he sat socially distanced next to his fellow Tory MP Ms Miller, while defence minister Johnny Mercer was at the despatch box.

In a statement after his diagnosis was revealed, Mr Anderson explained he felt fine and his concerns were for his wife Sinead.

He said: “Isolating.

“On Friday I lost my sense of taste, at the same time my wife had a bad headache. I had no cough, no fever and felt well. We both had a test on Saturday and the result came in Sunday morning.

“My wife and I both tested positive.

“I feel absolutely fine and my biggest concern is my wife who is in the shielded group.

“But we are both feeling good.”

Sinead suffers from cystic fibrosis, diabetes and had a double lung transplant, so is in the at-risk category.

Mr Anderson has previously praised her bravery in Parliament and urged the UK Government to make a cystic fibrosis wonder drug on the NHS.

Posting on Facebook at the time of his meeting with the PM, the Tory backbencher had shared a photo of the pair standing apart in Downing Street.

This morning the PM released a video insisting he felt as "fit as a butcher’s dog".

He said: "I must now self-isolate for 14 days, and I will! It doesn’t matter that we were all following the guidance and socially distancing.

"It doesn’t matter that I feel fine - better than ever - or that my body is bursting with antibodies because I have already had the damn thing.

"The rules are the rules and they are there to stop the spread of the disease."

He also thanked Mr Anderson "for being so punctilious and effective in identifying his contacts even if it means my temporary incarceration".

A spokesman for No 10 said the PM was feeling fine and does not have any symptoms of coronavirus.

In April earlier this year the Mr Johnson went into intensive care with the virus, just ten days after testing positive.

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