Boris Johnson in London ICU After Coronavirus Infection Worsens

April 6, 2020 4:43 pm

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, sick with covid-19, was moved into an intensive care unit on Monday evening after his condition worsened, government officials announced.

Johnson “remains conscious at this time,” a 10 Downing Street spokeswoman said. “He has been moved to the ICU as a precaution should he require ventilation to aid his recovery.”

Exhibiting a persistent cough and fever, Johnson was admitted to St. Thomas’ Hospital in London on Sunday night. He was undergoing tests and “under observation” for most of Monday. Until he was moved to the ICU, Johnson was said by his staff to be working from his bed.

“Over the course of this afternoon, the condition of the Prime Minister has worsened and, on the advice of his medical team, he has been moved to the Intensive Care Unit at the hospital,” the spokeswoman said.

The prime minister has asked Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to “deputise for him where necessary,” meaning essentially to take the lead in governing the country.

All day Monday, Johnson’s office declined to describe what tests or treatments he had received, or say whether he had developed breathing problems or pneumonia, two of the common symptoms for coronavirus patients sick enough to be admitted to the hospital. One British newspaper reported that the prime minister had received oxygen treatment upon admission, but the government declined to confirm that detail.

Johnson’s ministers and staff sought to put the best spin on the fact that the 55-year-old leader was not well.

Johnson spent a “comfortable night” in the National Health Service hospital and “is in good spirits,” said Raab on Monday before the prime minister went into the ICU.

Raab said he hadn’t personally spoken to Johnson since Saturday.

Before his health became more dire, the prime minister tweeted Monday, “Last night, on the advice of my doctor, I went into hospital for some routine tests as I’m still experiencing coronavirus symptoms.” He thanked the “brilliant NHS staff taking care of me and others in this difficult time.”

Britain has confirmed 51,608 coronavirus cases and reported 5,373 deaths.

Johnson, one of the first world leaders to be diagnosed with covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, was last seen by the public in a short video posted Friday on his Twitter feed, urging Britons to remain indoors except to go shopping, visit the doctor or exercise. In the clips, he looked ragged, with puffy eyes and pale skin.

The British leader tested positive for the virus 12 days ago. He immediately went into self-isolation in his apartment at Downing Street, getting his food brought to the door on a tray, his aides said.

Johnson completed the recommended seven days of isolation, then extended his quarantine for three more days, and then on the advice of his doctor checked into the hospital Sunday evening, around the time that Queen Elizabeth II was making an extraordinary address to the country.

She spoke of “an increasingly challenging time. A time of disruption in the life of our country: A disruption that has brought grief to some, financial difficulties to many, and enormous changes to the daily lives of us all.”

The rules for who takes over if the prime minister becomes incapacitated are not as straightforward in Britain as in the United States, where the vice president would assume the duties.

Although Johnson has designated Raab as his stand-in, that might require cabinet approval.

“It isn’t as cut and dry and black and white as it is in the U.S.,” said Tim Bale, a professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London. “Were somebody to be suddenly struck down and there were no named interim in place, it would ultimately be up to the cabinet to decide. . . . The prime minister is not the chief executive the way the president is.”

Bale said it wasn’t surprising that Johnson didn’t immediately step aside. “It’s very difficult for prime ministers to relinquish their power, emotionally speaking,” he said.

He added that Raab getting the nod would be complicated by his “limitations as a public communicator,” and the fact that most people would point to another senior minister, Michael Gove, as the de facto deputy prime minister.

{Matzav.com}