A junior health minister in the UK government has tested positive for Covid-19 and is in isolation at home.

Under-Secretary of State for Health Nadine Dorries, who played a role in drawing up legislation to tackle the coronavirus, fell ill on Friday last week.

Dorries, who is now in isolation and recovering, met hundreds of people in parliament in the past week and attended a reception with Prime Minster Boris Johnson, the Times newspaper reported.

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Officials are identifying those she has been in contact with since contracting the virus.

It comes as a sixth person died from the virus in the UK, which has a total of 382 cases.

The latest person to die, who was in his early 80s, had underlying health conditions.

Dorries said in a statement she took "all the advised precautions" as soon as she was informed of her diagnosis.

She added: "Public Health England has started detailed contact tracing and the department and my parliamentary office are closely following their advice."

If you have symptoms of the coronavirus, call the NZ Covid-19 Healthline on 0800 358 5453 (+64 9 358 5453 for international SIMs)

- BBC / Reuters