Junior Minister for Health Frank Feighan tests positive for Covid-19

Mr Feighan experienced mild symptoms and has received a positive result from a PCR test

Minister Feighan will continue to follow the public health advice, including working from home.
Minister Feighan will continue to follow the public health advice, including working from home.

The Minister of State with Responsibility for Public Health, Wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy Frank Feighan has tested positive for Covid-19.

Mr Feighan experienced mild symptoms of the virus on Sunday, and has received a positive result from a PCR test, the Department of Health said on Monday.

“Minister Feighan experienced mild symptoms of Covid-19 yesterday. As per public health advice, Minister Feighan immediately self-isolated and arranged a test which has returned a ‘detected’ result,” it said in a statement.

“Minister Feighan will continue to follow the public health advice, including working from home, and encourages anyone who experiences symptoms of Covid-19 to self-isolate and get tested straight away.”

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Meanwhile, Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications Eamon Ryan travelled to Cop26 on Monday after a follow-up Covid test confirmed he is not infected with the virus.

Mr Ryan initially received a positive test on Saturday, but he later received notification from the HSE that a second test was recommended.

“This result of this test showed Covid-19 was not detected. The public health advice in this instance is that the case is denotified,” a spokesman for the Minister said.

Mr Ryan was not symptomatic at any point. He underwent the initial test as a precautionary measure as recommended by Cop26 organisers.

Sarah Burns

Sarah Burns

Sarah Burns is a reporter for The Irish Times