Venomous spider crawls on health minister during Covid briefing – and her reaction is a masterclass in calm

An Australian health minister’s reaction to having a huntsman spider join her press briefing is a masterclass in keeping calm during a stressful situation.

Queensland health minister Yvette D’Ath was delivering a Covid press briefing when the venomous spider crawled onto her foot.

When she spotted the unexpected guest, she stopped and said: “Can someone please get that spider off?”

She continued: “This shows how controlled I can be. I don’t like huntsmans but I’m going to keep going and I’m going to pretend that I don’t have a huntsman on me right now and let someone else manage this but if it gets anywhere near my face please let me know.”

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She then paused again to look at her feet as someone is heard saying: “I think I can see it, there it is.”

D’Ath squeaks and steps back from the lectern before announcing that the spider had wandered off.

Relieved, she said: “Well that was a moment, wasn’t it? We’ve got Covid and we’ve got huntsmen.”

Without skipping a beat, she returned to speaking about the pandemic.

D’Ath seemed to take it all in her stride as after the interruption she tweeted: “Update - No spiders were harmed during the press conference.”

Although they have venom, the long-legged creepy crawlies are not considered dangerous. The shy creatures usually opt for running away instead of attacking, according to the Australian Museum.

Regardless, we don’t think anyone would be pleased to see one of these hairy arachnids coming anywhere near them.