Falkirk MP John McNally MP.

The SNP man took the decision while on his way to a public engagement at St Andrew’s University after a warning call from Leeds North West MP Alex Sobel, who was also at the UK bus summit in Westminster - where Falkirk bus firm Alexander Dennis was strongly represented.

Mr Sobel, followed by Lilian Greenwood MP (Nottingham South), had discovered - apparently from a Sky News broadcast - that an unknown person at the event, attended by around 250 people, had been diagnosed as suffering from the potentially lethal virus.

Ms Greenwood shared on Twitter a letter from Public Health England - which has reportedly been trying to contact all those who attended the event at London’s QEII Centre.

Like Mr Sobel, and now John McNally, she decided to cancel all public engagements until Thursday, although it appears the NHS advice down south is only that people should do that if they appear to develop symptoms.

However Mr McNally has had no such contact, and says he’d grateful to Mr Sobel for getting in touch.

“I was half way to St Andrews when I got his call”, he said, “and decided right away it was sensible to call off and go home.”

It’s unclear how many of the scores of other attendees at the same event have taken a similar decision.

Mr McNally was unwell over the festive period and is currently recuperating, and among other considerations concluded it might be difficult to distinguish coronavirus symptoms from those of flu and cold infections common in the winter months.

He decided to contact NHS 24, and decided to self-isolate until Thursday to be sure he was not a potential coronavirus carrier.

“I have been unwell and was needing a rest anyway”, Mr McNally said today, “but it was when Alex Sobel called that I decided to cancel that appearance at St Andrew’s University - otherwise I would have gone ahead”.

He said the NHS advice he’d received in Scotland was sound, and that while he won’t be out and about as usual this week he