Barely an hour after it was announced that Prime Minister Boris Johnson has tested positive for Covid-19, the Daily Mail has reported that health secretary Matt Hancock has also tested positive for the illness.

The newspaper reports that the news threatens to disrupt the government's response to the crisis and increase pressure over the lack of wide-scale testing of the general public.

There are also concerns that other senior ministers and senior officials such as the chief medical oficer for England Professor Chris Whitty might have been infected.