His health deteriorated. On Monday, the day after his hospitalization, Boris Johnson, infected with the coronavirus, was transferred to intensive care.
After being diagnosed positive for Covid-19 on March 27, the British Prime Minister - the only head of state or government of a great power to have been infected - had been hospitalized on Sunday evening for examinations, according to his services, due to the persistence of symptoms of the disease, including fever.
Boris Johnson remains "aware"
"During the afternoon, the Prime Minister's state of health deteriorated and, on the advice of his medical team, he was transferred to the intensive care unit of the hospital," said the spokesperson in the evening. "The Prime Minister asked the Minister of Foreign Affairs Dominic Raab (...) to replace him where necessary," he added in a statement. The latter had already replaced him to chair the daily meeting devoted to Covid-19.
According to a government source, Boris Johnson remains "aware" and his transfer, which took place around 7 p.m. local time (6 p.m. GMT), was decided "as a precaution in case he needs a respirator".
Just hours before the announcement of his admission to intensive care, Foreign Minister Dominic Raab had assured that he had spent a "quiet night" at St Thomas Hospital in central London, and that he remained "under observation".
"His morale is good" and "he continues to run the government," he said during the daily executive press conference, pressed with questions about the Prime Minister's ability to carry out his duties despite the illness.
Doubts about the seriousness of his condition
Criticized for having delayed taking stock of the situation, the government has built field hospitals in disaster to relieve an overwhelmed health system, promised to multiply by ten the tests which are sorely lacking and released gigantic sums to respond to the economic and social slump . Since the announcement of his illness, Boris Johnson continued to lead the quarantine government's response, from his apartment in Downing Street from where he posted video messages on Twitter calling on his compatriots to stay at home.
The left-wing daily The Guardian said on Monday that "Johnson was more seriously ill than he or his officials were prepared to admit, and was seen by doctors worried about his breathing." Some commentators believed that the head of government should have rested.
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VIDEO. Coronavirus: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Covid-19 positive, hospitalized for exams
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