Michael Gove had to abandon a meeting with Boris Johnson and devolved nation leaders after he was notified he may have come into contact with someone with Covid on his recent trip to Portugal.
The Cabinet Office had gone to Porto with his son to watch the Champions League final between Chelsea and Manchester City last week.
The Cabinet Office confirmed Mr Gove had been pinged by the NHS app on his mobile phone that he may have been in contact with someone who tested positive for coronavirus.
It is believed the contact happened on the flight home from his trip to Porto to watch the football, according to reports.
However, instead of self-isolating for 10 days, Mr Gove will be able to take part in a pilot scheme for certain workplaces, whereby he can instead be tested every day for a week.
Those who test negative after a lateral flow test each morning are allowed to attend their workplace as usual, but are not allowed to socialise with others.
Unlike Mr Gove, many football fans returning from the Champions League final in Portugal have been told to self-isolate after multiple flights reported passengers testing positive for coronavirus.
Posting on one fan forum, passengers reported as many as five flights organised by Manchester City for the final have been affected by the request.
Chelsea supporters on three planes have also been told to self-isolate, according to a report in the Daily Mail.
Dom Farrell, a sports journalist for Stats Perform, travelled to Porto for work and received a notification from NHS Test and Trace four days after flying home, telling him he needed to self-isolate.
Chelsea fans at Estadio do Dragao venue in Porto
The reporter said a colleague on the same flight had received the same notification, leading him to believe that others onboard had too. Mr Farrell said it was unnecessary for the match to take place abroad when two English clubs were competing.
“If I’m being entirely honest, it shouldn’t have happened. And I’m not saying that because I have to self-isolate. It just seems silly [the match] wasn’t happening in the UK.”
Wembley was considered as an alternative venue for the fixture, but the government could not accommodate the request to allow quarantine exemptions for thousands of sponsors, VIPs, and broadcasters.
Manchester City fans in Porto city centre
Fans have spoken of their frustration about self-isolation – having already had to provide proof of a negative PCR test before going to Portugal, and again within 72 hours prior to their return to the UK.
Andy Saunders, from St Albans, was told by his NHS Test and Trace app to self-isolate for 10 days after returning on a flight from Chelsea’s appointed travel partner Tui, he said.
He said it was “frustrating” because he has tested negative and received his first and second Covid vaccination jabs. “The mask-wearing from Chelsea fans [on the flight] was very compliant, and everyone behaved themselves. I think that makes it even more frustrating.”
Former Tory chancellor George Osborne was also spotted at the Champions League final in Porto on Saturday.
