‘Abundant caution’ taken after exposure to coronavirus at G7 meeting

Two positive COVID-19 cases have been identified at a gathering of world leaders in London attended by Foreign Minister Marise Payne.

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, right, bumps elbows with his Brunei counterpart Erywan Yusof at G7. Picture: Hannah McKay/Getty Images

Two positive COVID-19 cases have been identified at a G7 meeting of world leaders in London attended by Foreign Minister Marise Payne.

India’s delegation is now self-isolating and its foreign minister said he would attend the meeting virtually after he was exposed to possible coronavirus cases.

India is not part of the Group of Seven wealthy democracies but was invited by Britain to the talks in London.

“Was made aware yesterday evening of exposure to possible Covid positive cases,” India’s foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar tweeted on Wednesday.

“As a measure of abundant caution and also out of consideration for others, I decided to conduct my engagements in the virtual mode. That will be the case with the G7 Meeting today as well.”

Britain's Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, right, welcomes German Foreign Affairs Minister Heiko Maas to the G7 in London. Picture: Hannah McKay/AFP)

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Sky News earlier reported there had been two positive cases among the Indian delegation.

Mr Jaishankar met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in-person on Monday evening on the sidelines of the foreign ministers summit.

The US State Department said it had been advised, including by public health professionals in Britain, that its health protocols “would permit us to continue with our G7 activities as planned”.

“We have no reason to believe any of our delegation is at risk. We will continue to follow the guidance of public health professionals going forward and abide by the same strict COVID-19 protocols,” spokesman Ned Price said.

Day two of the G7 foreign ministers meeting. Picture: Ben Stansall/AFP)

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India, the world’s second-most populous nation, has been hit by a devastating wave of infections in recent weeks that has taken its total number of cases to more than 20.6 million.

The massive spike has pushed the healthcare system to breaking point, overwhelming hospitals and leading to severe shortages of beds, oxygen and other critical medical supplies.

The G7 was due to discuss coronavirus vaccines Wednesday amid growing pressure on the group to share stockpiles and know-how with poor nations.

G7 talks vaccines after pleas to help poor

Foreign ministers of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States are wrapping up three days of talks in central London that will set the agenda for a G7 leaders’ summit next month in Cornwall, southern England.

After a day focused on showing a common front of democracies towards China, the final sessions will also bring in development chiefs and address global challenges including the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the meeting. Picture: Ben Stansall/AFP)

“A really valuable part of the G7 format is to think in the round — what do we need to do to help the most vulnerable countries around the world?” British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told reporters.

Wealthy nations have put an emphasis on Covax, a UN-backed program meant to share vaccines with the poorest nations.

But rich nations have also effectively elbowed out Covax in the early stages, striking their own deals with drug manufacturers and taking the overwhelming share of the more than 1.2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine that have already been injected worldwide.

Mr Raab stressed the importance of Covax but said there was an additional question of “what we do about surplus domestic supply”.

The issues are “a really good opportunity for the G7 together with our Indo-Pacific partners to talk all of that through and come up with positive answers”, Mr Raab said.

Britain invited India to the G7 talks, seeking to include a democratic ally crucial to discussions on China.