SYDNEY: One of Australia’s highest-profile ministers, Peter Dutton, who is in charge of home affairs, said he had tested positive for coronavirus on Friday and was admitted to hospital in the northeastern state of Queensland.
Australia has recorded 156 infections and three deaths from the flu-like disease, but authorities expect a rapid increase in the coming weeks, with the arrival of the southern hemisphere winter, Reuters reported.
Dutton, a former health minister, attended a meeting in Sydney on Tuesday at which he met Prime Minister Scott
Morrison and other cabinet members for a few hours, a spokeswoman said.
“This morning, I woke up with a temperature and sore throat,” Dutton said in a statement issued by his office, adding that Queensland health authorities told him on Friday afternoon that his test had proved positive.
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