UK Business Sec tested for COVID-19

A senior member of the British government is being tested for the coronavirus after falling ill in the House of Commons on Wednesday.

Business Secretary Alok Sharma has been tested and is heading home to self-isolate after becoming unwell while delivering a speech on the Corporate Governance and Insolvency Bill, his office said.

Several senior officials and government ministers fell sick with COVID-19 in March and April - most notably Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who spent three nights in intensive care at a London hospital.

Sharma was seen wiping his brow in Parliament on Wednesday, a day after lawmakers voted to end a system of remote voting that had allowed them to work from home during a nationwide lockdown.

The government said members of Parliament should be setting an example by returning to the office as the country gradually eases restrictions imposed to stem the outbreak. Social distancing measures have been introduced around the vast neo-Gothic building.