Covid: Cheshire councillor sorry over plan to attend meeting with virus

Mr Asquith later said he had been "mistaken" and had misread a home testing kit

A councillor who told colleagues he would attend a meeting despite believing he had tested positive for Covid-19 has apologised.

Tory Marc Asquith emailed Cheshire East councillors on Monday to say he would not be self-isolating and would attend the following day's meeting.

The Conservatives said he was "instructed" not to attend. Labour said his decision was "incredible".

It later transpired the Cheshire East councillor had misread a negative test.

All 82 Cheshire East councillors were called to attend a face-to-face socially-distanced full council meeting at Macclesfield Leisure Centre earlier after emergency government legislation allowing virtual meetings expired in May.

In his email to his fellow councillors, the Chelford member said: "I appear to have tested positive for Covid-19 this evening."

However, he said that as he had "had the two jabs, I am not concerned", adding that he planned "to attend tomorrow as required" and recommending that any councillor who was shielding should keep "social distancing from me".

'Madness'

In a subsequent email to all councillors, the authority's chief executive Lorraine O'Donnell told Mr Asquith that he should "on no account attend tomorrow if you have tested positive".

When challenged on his decision by opposition councillors, Mr Asquith said he did not need to self-isolate because he did not display symptoms.

Government guidance states that if anybody tests positive for coronavirus, they must "immediately self isolate", regardless of any symptoms or vaccination.

Mr Asquith told the BBC earlier he had been "advised that the test result was actually negative", and that he had been "mistaken" and misread a home testing kit.

He said his plan to attend when he believed he had Covid-19 had been "a bad decision and I sought to rectify it as soon as I could this morning".

Cheshire East's Labour leader Sam Corcoran said Mr Asquith's decision had been "madness" and sent "completely the wrong message".

He added that the councillor should "consider his position".

Mr Asquith said that as "no actual harm was done... I don't think it calls for a resignation".

The Conservatives said the councillor had "apologised for his poor judgement".