Boris Johnson ‘stable’ amid coronavirus battle in ICU, UK Foreign Minister says
UK Foreign Minister Dominic Raab on Tuesday gave an upbeat report on Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who remained in an intensive care unit at a London hospital being treated for severe coronavirus symptoms.
Raab, whom Johnson deputized to partially fill in for him on some roles while he is hospitalized, said Johnson was “receiving the very best care from the excellent medical team” and remained stable overnight and was in “good spirits.”
“I’m confident he’ll pull through because if there’s one thing I know about this Prime Minister, he’s a fighter,” Raab told reporters during a briefing at 10 Downing St. in London.
“It comes as a shock to all of us. He is not just a prime minister, not just our boss, but also a colleague and also our friend. We hope he’s back in very short order,” Raab added.
Johnson, who remains conscious, was admitted to the ICU Monday after his symptoms worsened and his doctors wanted him close to a ventilator, should he need one, which Raab said had not been the case so far.
Asked how Johnson, who was leading the campaign to persuade Britons to stay at home and practice social distancing, had contracted the virus, Raab said no one was immune.
“You have a virus which is totally indiscriminate. It’s a very dangerous virus, very contagious. It goes to show that no one is impervious to it,” he said.
“The number of people admitted to hospital with coronavirus symptoms now stands at 18,589 and 6,159 have died,” Raab added.
Patrick Vallance, the UK’s chief scientific adviser, said that a “substantial” reduction in social interaction should lead to a “substantial” reduction in new cases.
He said the number of deaths in the UK should begin to fall about two weeks after the number of people in intensive care declines.
The 55-year-old Tory PM — who announced on March 27 that he tested positive for COVID-19 — was being given oxygen at London’s St. Thomas’ Hospital, which directly overlooks Parliament.
Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove — who also went into isolation after a family member showed symptoms — said Johnson had not been diagnosed with pneumonia, the Times of London said.
Gove said Johnson was “receiving the very, very best care from the team at St. Thomas and our hopes and prayers are with him and with his family.” And London Mayor Sadiq Khan insisted Johnson was being treated by “some of the finest medical staff in the world, and he couldn’t be in safer hands.”
Johnson’s pregnant fiancée, Carrie Symonds, also said she was sick for a week with classic symptoms of the virus, insisting over the weekend that she was “on the mend.” She was unable to see him despite his serious condition.