BT boss Philip Jansen tests positive for Covid-19

The chief executive of BT Group has tested positive for Covid-19, becoming the first publicly confirmed case of a FTSE 100 chief executive who has coronavirus.

Philip Jansen tested positive for the virus on Thursday afternoon and is self-isolating, as advised by Public Health England, the company said.

In a statement to the PA news agency, Mr Jansen said: “Having felt slightly unwell I decided as a precaution to be tested. As soon as the test results were known I isolated myself at home.”

The BT boss said he decided to go public because he had attended an industry event earlier in the week with other mobile phone operators.

Mobile connectivity is important if you're in a city centre or in the countryside. Building fast & reliable access to 4G across the country is a national mission and we’re playing a leading role with Government and other mobile network operators in the UK.

-Philip Jansen, CEO pic.twitter.com/Oftm9DdI83

— BT Group (@BTGroup) March 9, 2020

Attendees are now being contacted and given further advice, BT said.

Mr Jansen, 53, added: “I’ve met several industry partners this week so felt it was the responsible thing to do to alert them to this fact as soon as I could.

“Given my symptoms seem relatively mild, I will continue to lead BT but work with my team remotely over the coming week. There will be no disruption to the business.”

Employees who have been in contact with the chief executive have been advised to self-isolate.

Mr Jansen has been chief executive of the telecoms group for just over a year.