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An Australian minister was pictured next to Ivanka Trump days before testing positive for the coronavirus

Mar 13, 2020, 16:23 IST
  • Australian home affairs minister Peter Dutton announced Friday that he had tested positive for the coronavirus.
  • Dutton last week attended an event in the US on countering child exploitation, and was pictured with Ivanka Trump and Attorney General William Barr.
  • On Thursday the White House said that President Donald Trump was not being tested for the coronavirus despite attending an event with a Brazilian official who has the virus.
  • Politicians in the UK, Iran and Australia have tested positive for the illness, and Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau is in self-isolation after his wife tested positive.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Peter Dutton, the Australian home affairs minister who announced Friday he had tested positive for the coronavirus, was pictured standing next to Ivanka Trump on an official visit to the US last week.

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In a statement Friday Dutton, who sits on the country's national security council, said that he had woken up with a "temperature and sore throat." He said that he had contacted his local health department and checked himself into hospital, where he tested positive for COVID-19, the disease it causes.

Dutton had recently travelled to the US on an official visit to discuss global efforts to tackle child exploitation.

In a March 5 photograph from the visit, tweeted by the Australian embassy, Dutton is pictured to the left of Ivanka Trump, President Donald Trump's daughter, who is an adviser in her father's administration.

"Yesterday Home Affairs @PeterDutton_MP joins @IvankaTrump, Attorney General Barr & our five eyes partners to fight online child exploitation. We heard from 9 brave survivors & announced principles that technology companies should implement to protect children online," read the message.

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Also in the picture, to Ivanka Trump's right, is Attorney General William Barr, and also pictured is UK security minister James Brokenshire.

The Five Eyes is a name for the intelligence-sharing alliance of the UK, US, Canada Australia, and New Zealand.

A March 5 Justice Department news release said that Chad Wolf, Acting Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security also attended the event. Business Insider has contacted the department for comment.

Dutton's positive test returned a full week after the Justice Department event, and Dutton said he only experienced symptoms the same day as the test.

Medical experts say the coronavirus is most contagious after symptoms occur, but it can also spread beforehand.

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According to the release, New Zealand Minister of Internal Affairs and Minister for Children Tracey Martin, and Canada's Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair were also there.

The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment on whether Ivanka Trump is being tested for the illness. The justice department also did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Barr's exposure to infection.

In recent days celebrities, sports stars and senior politicians across the world have tested positive for the coronavirus.

On Thursday, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau said he was self-isolating after his wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, had tested positive for the coronavirus.

The White House on Thursday said that President Trump was not being tested, despite a senior Brazilian official who attended a Florida event with Trump over the weekend testing positive for the illness.

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At the Conservative Political Action Conference a fortnight ago Trump shook hands with Matt Schlapp, the chairman of the American Conservative Union, who had come into contact with an attendee who tested positive.

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