Labour MP Phil Twyford catches Covid-19, cancels Timor-Leste visit
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Labor MP Phil Twyford has canceled a trip to Timor-Leste after testing positive for Covid-19.
Labor MP Phil Twyford has tested positive for Covid-19, forcing him out of a trip to Timor-Leste.
In a statement, he said he started having symptoms on Friday evening and tested positive on Saturday morning.
He was due to travel to Timor-Leste on Monday, as the minister of state for trade and export growth, to represent New Zealand at Timor-Leste’s 20th anniversary of independence and the inauguration of Dr Jose Ramos-Horta as the country’s next president .
New Zealand’s ambassador to Timor-Leste, Philip Hewitt, will attend instead.
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Twyford said he was disappointed to not attend in person, but sent his best wishes to the people of Timor-Leste.
He was the second Labor MP to test positive on Saturday, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern also returning a positive test.
She had been isolating since May 8, when her partner Clarke Gayford tested positive.
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