An Australian government official who spent time with Ivanka Trump and Attorney General William Barr recently announced that he tested positive for coronavirus.
Peter Dutton, Australia’s Minister for Home Affairs, announced the positive test in a statement on Friday morning.
“This morning I woke up with a temperature and sore throat,” he said. “I immediately contacted the Queensland Department of Health and was subsequently tested for COVID-19. I was advised by Queensland Health this afternoon that the test had returned positive.”
— Peter Dutton (@Hon_PeterDutton) March 13, 2020
“It is the policy of Queensland Health that anyone who tests positive is to be admitted into the hospital and I have complied with their advice. I feel fine and will provide an update in due course,” Dutton added.
During his trip to Washington, D.C., Dutton met with Ivanka Trump, Barr and Trump’s advisor Kellyanne Conway last Thursday. He also had a visit with the “Five Eyes” intelligence alliance to discuss online child exploitation, Politico reported.
News of Dutton’s positive test is another example of the virus coming close to the White House. Along with the threat to Ivanka Trump, President Donald Trump has also reportedly been exposed to people with the virus.
Fabio Wajngarten, the press secretary for Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro, also tested positive after being at Mar-a Lago last weekend. After initial reports that suggested Bolsonaro himself had been tested positive for the virus as of Friday morning, Fox News now says he has tested negative.
After telling @FoxNews that his father had a preliminary POSITIVE test for coronavirus, Eduardo Bolsonaro now tells @FoxNews the test was NEGATIVE. Bolsonaro says has been in touch with the White House.
— John Roberts (@johnrobertsFox) March 13, 2020
Trump has said he was “not concerned” about interacting with Wajngarten. Other world leaders are being impacted, too. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he was self-imposing a 14-day quarantine after his wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, tested positive for the virus.
