The business secretary, Alok Sharma, is facing questions after a union health and safety inspection identified concerns over social distancing in his private office days before a member of his inner circle tested positive for Covid-19. The Guardian has learned that an employee in Sharma’s private office tested positive last Monday after reporting Covid symptoms a day earlier, with other members of staff in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Beis) forced to isolate. This is unacceptable.”It references a health and safety inspection carried out on Thursday 22 October – the same day of Sharma’s meeting including the individual who has tested positive for Covid – which found concerns. Among examples, it counts “having a face-to-face conversation within one metre” with someone who has tested positive. It also lists “a person who has been within 2 metres of someone who has tested positive for Covid-19 for more than 15 minutes”.

Source: The Guardian November 03, 2020 11:53 UTC