LONDON — Boris Johnson continues to run the U.K. government from hospital after being admitted due to persistent symptoms of coronavirus.
The prime minister is “in good spirits” at St. Thomas Hospital on the banks of the River Thames in Westminster and is under continued observation, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told the daily Downing Street press conference on Monday afternoon.
“He still remains in charge of the government,” Raab said. “And we are getting on with all the various strands of work to make sure that, at home and abroad, we can defeat the virus and pull the country through … the challenges that undoubtedly we are facing at the moment.”
Raab refused to be drawn further on the condition the prime minister was in or whether he was in a fit state to run the country, despite repeated questions from journalists.
Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty also batted away questions as he appeared alongside Raab at the press conference. “Im absolutely not going to discuss any individual patient, nor do I have all the details and nor should I,” he said. But he added, as a generalization, that some people are “perfectly capable of managing massively complicated things from a hospital bed; others clearly are not.”
Johnson was admitted to hospital on Sunday night in what Downing Street insisted was a precautionary move. He had displayed coronavirus symptoms, including a temperature and a cough, for 10 days.
Downing Street originally said he would be kept in hospital overnight. But the fact he is yet to be released has fueled speculation about his condition, and raised questions over whether he should rest rather than work. Raab said Johnson will continue to receive advice from his doctors about whether or not he should return to No. 10.
Johnson tweeted from his hospital bed on Monday afternoon: “Im in good spirits and keeping in touch with my team, as we work together to fight this virus and keep everyone safe. Id like to say thank you to all the brilliant NHS staff taking care of me and others in this difficult time. You are the best of Britain.”
The government was forced to reject claims from Russian media that the prime minister was on a ventilator. The news agency RIA Novosti quoted an unnamed health care official saying Johnson had been given “artificial ventilation of his lungs.” A spokesman for the prime minister dismissed the report as “disinformation.”
“Our specialist government units have seen a rise in false reports since the coronavirus outbreak started. Its vital that any [such] information is knocked down quickly,” the spokesman said.
Johnson was among the 7 percent of known coronavirus cases admitted to hospital in the past 24 hours, as government scientists sounded an optimistic note about the data coming from the U.K.
Deputy Chief Scientific Officer Angela Douglas pointed to figures showing a fall in new cases, with 3,800 on Monday compared with 5,900 the day before, as well as a slowing down in hospital admissions. She said social distancing measures “are working” but that a question remained over whether the rates were slowing enough to stabilize the numbers needing hospital treatment.
She also said it was “too soon” to see the effects of the stricter lockdown measures Johnson announced on March 23.
The government refused to be drawn on what the so-called exit strategy out of the lockdown could look like. Raab insisted the “overriding” concern was about fRead More – Source
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