A senior Australian government minister who met White House officials including Ivanka Trump in Washington last week has been diagnosed with the coronavirus.
Minister for Home Affairs, Peter Dutton, released a statement late Friday saying he’d been diagnosed with COVID-19 and admitted to hospital. The Cabinet member visited the White House on March 5 and was pictured with Ivanka Trump, Attorney General William Barr. and other ministers representing the Five Eyes security pact.
It’s unknown whether Dutton’s proximity to the U.S. president’s daughter will mean Donald Trump will test for the coronavirus -- he’s yet to do so even as his incoming chief of staff and at least four other GOP lawmakers put themselves in quarantine after coming into contact with an infected person at a political event.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in a statement the country’s deputy chief medical officer had advised it was not necessary for the prime minister or other cabinet members to be quarantined as they had not been in contact with Dutton in the 24 hours before he became symptomatic.
© Copyright 2026 Bloomberg News. All rights reserved.