The Prime Minister's spokesperson said he had a "comfortable" night at St Thomas' Hospital, across Westminster Bridge from Downing Street, and is in "good spirits." The spokesperson would not comment on reports Johnson was given oxygen, but officials are no longer describing his symptoms as mild.
Johnson was admitted to hospital for tests as a precaution, and continues to receive briefing papers, according to the spokesperson. The regular morning briefing on coronavirus was chaired by foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, the most senior Cabinet minister after Johnson.
Downing Street has previously said Raab would stand in if the Prime Minister were unable to lead the country.
In a post on Twitter, Johnson said he was keeping in touch with his team and thanked staff at Britain's National Health Service for taking care of him.
The communities secretary, Robert Jenrick, said earlier that Johnson was able to continue running the country despite being hospitalized.
"I know for him personally it will be very frustrating that he's had to go to the hospital to have these tests, and he'll want to be back in Number 10 (Downing Street ) leading from the front, which is his way," Jenrick told the BBC's Today program on Monday morning.
"But he remains in charge of the government and he will be updated regularly in the hospital, as he has been while he was self-isolating."
Johnson was taken to hospital at about 8 p.m. on Sunday evening, 10 days after first being diagnosed. "This wasn't an emergency admission, it was a planned admission, in order to have some routine tests," Jenrick said. "Those tests are underway and he'll stay in hospital as long as he needs to do that. But I've heard that he's doing well, and I very much look forward to him being back in Number 10 as soon as possible."
When asked if the Prime Minister would spend more nights in the hospital, Jenrick said, "He'll obviously take the advice from the doctors and nurses in the hospital who are doing those tests. Throughout this, he's taken the advice and followed the guidelines."
US President Donald Trump expressed sympathy, calling Johnson "a strong man and a strong person." In a news conference Sunday night, President Trump said: "I want to express our nation's well wishes to Prime Minister Boris Johnson as he wages his own personal fight with the virus."
"All Americans are praying for him. He's a friend of mine, he's a great gentleman and a great leader."
Downing Street on Sunday insisted Johnson's hospital admission was a "precautionary step" taken because he had "persistent symptoms " ten days after testing positive for coronavirus.
Johnson, 55, announced that he had tested positive for the virus on March 27, describing a cough and a fever in a video posted to Twitter. In an update on Friday, Johnson said that he continued to experience a temperature.
His pregnant partner, Carrie Symonds, has also experienced Covid-19 symptoms, and said over the weekend that she is "on the mend."
Johnson's secretary of state for health, Matt Hancock, also said on March 27 he had the virus, and the UK's chief medical officer, Chris Whitty, announced that he would begin self-isolation after displaying symptoms.
The UK had faced criticism for its slow response to the coronavirus, with Johnson still shaking hands of patients with the virus in hospital just a few weeks ago.
CNN's Nikki Carvajal, Susannah Cullinane and Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed reporting.
TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he will declare a state of emergency Tuesday to cover seven prefectures, including Tokyo and the city of Osaka, most severely affected by the coronavirus outbreak, but promised no lockdowns like those implemented elsewhere.
“The period will be for one month as a rough estimate, and this declaration is issued in order to ask for more cooperation from the public to reduce as much as possible people-to-people contact that could lead to infections, and to establish the medical system to deal with the situation,” he said.
Abe said he would also announce an “unprecedented” economic rescue package Tuesday equivalent to around 20 percent of the gross domestic product.
“We must keep protecting employment,” he said. “Even though we will declare a state of emergency, we will not lock cities down as has been done overseas,” Abe said, adding that the government aimed to maintain as much economic activity as possible.
Under the state of emergency, people will be asked to refrain from going outdoors, but no legal penalties will be imposed for noncompliance. Companies may be asked to tell employees to work from home, and schools may be closed, but trains will continue to run and supermarkets will stay open.
Infections have begun to rise sharply in Japan during the past two weeks, with around 360 new cases found on Sunday, bringing the reported number of people who have contracted the virus to 3,865, with 93 deaths, not including cases and fatalities from the Diamond Princess cruise ship.
Abe has been under growing pressure from the medical profession and general public to declare a state of emergency. Tokyo is by far the worst-affected region, and its hospitals are already struggling to cope with more than 950 people hospitalized with the virus already.
The other prefectures covered by the state of emergency will be Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba — all three around Tokyo — as well as Hyogo and Fukuoka.
White House officials said Sunday that parts of the country will soon reach a peak in cases of the novel coronavirus, as hospitals in high-infection areas brace for a surge in both patients and deaths.
Although President Trump hailed a one-day decline in deaths in the New York region, predictions from other officials were far more grim.
“This is going to be the hardest and saddest week of most Americans’ lives,” U.S. surgeon general Jerome M. Adams said. “This is going to be our Pearl Harbor moment, our 9/11 moment, only it’s not going to be localized. It’s going to be happening all over the country.”
His warning comes amid extraordinary scenes inside hospitals and mounting fatalities across the country. Deaths related to the virus have pushed past 9,500, as of late on Sunday evening, though federal officials acknowledge the true count is certainly higher due to a shortage of tests.
Trump has urged states to share any spare ventilators with others, but a national scramble for supplies may still leave the nation’s epicenters far short. New York’s supply will last an additional 48 to 72 hours, local officials have warned, while Louisiana could run out as soon as Thursday.
Trump also continued to push hydroxychloroquine as a way to treat and prevent the virus, even though the FDA has given only limited emergency use authorization for the drug. Rudolph W. Giuliani, his unpaid private attorney, has also been promoting the use of an anti-malarial drug combination in phone calls.
Across the Atlantic, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was admitted to a hospital because of “persistent” coronavirus symptoms, after testing positive 10 days ago. And in a rare broadcast, Queen Elizabeth II called on the British people to show their self-discipline and quiet resolve during the pandemic.
LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was in hospital in London for tests on Monday suffering persistent coronavirus symptoms 10 days after testing positive for the virus, but Downing Street said he remained in charge of the government.
FILE PHOTO: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he speaks during a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) news conference inside 10 Downing Street, London, Britain March 19, 2020. Leon Neal/Pool via REUTERS
Johnson, who had been isolating in Downing Street after testing positive for the virus last month, was taken to hospital on Sunday night because he still had a high temperature and his doctors felt he needed additional tests.
The prime minister is doing well and will undergo routine tests on Monday but will continue to lead the government, Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick said.
“He’ll stay in hospital as long as he needs to do that, but I’ve heard that he’s doing well and I very much look forward to him being back in Number 10 as soon as possible,” Jenrick said.
“This isn’t an emergency admission and so I certainly expect that he’ll be back at Number 10 shortly,” said, though he gave no time frame.
On March 27, Johnson became the first leader of a major power to announce that he had tested positive. The 55-year-old went into isolation at an apartment in Downing Street and said on Friday he was staying there as he still had a high temperature.
Downing Street stressed it was not an emergency admission. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab will chair the government’s emergency COVID-19 meeting on Monday.
With only an unwieldy collection of sometimes ancient and contradictory precedents to go by, there is no formal succession plan should the prime minister become incapacitated.
Queen Elizabeth, who delivered a rallying call on Sunday to the British people just as Johnson was admitted, has been informed of his admission to hospital, Buckingham Palace said.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Johnson was a “strong man” as he passed on his nation’s best wishes.
“All Americans are praying for him,” Trump told a news conference. “He’s a friend of mine, he’s a great gentleman and a great leader, and as you know he went to the hospital today but I’m hopeful and sure that he’s going to be fine.”
The pound fell against the dollar on news of Johnson’s admission to hospital but rose when Jenrick said he expected him to be back at Downing Street shortly.
“PRECAUTIONARY TESTS”
Johnson’s office declined to say what tests he was to have in hospital, but experts said a person of his age with COVID-19 symptoms after 10 days was likely to be assessed for their oxygen levels, lung, liver and heart functions, and undergo an electrocardiogram heart check.
“Clearly the prime minister is finding it difficult to shake this thing off,” said Jonathan Ball, Professor of Molecular Virology at Nottingham University.
“What it does show is how difficult it is to predict how this infection will develop, and whilst most people will experience nothing more than an annoying cold, for others this can develop into a serious and sometimes life-threatening disease.”
Medics said that patients with COVID-19 can deteriorate after about 10 days, with some developing pneumonia.
Health officials said on Sunday the British death toll from the coronavirus had risen by 621 to 4,934.
PM IN HOSPITAL
Johnson, the face of the 2016 Brexit campaign, won a resounding election victory in December before leading the United Kingdom out of the European Union on Jan. 31.
He has faced criticism for initially approving a much more modest response to the novel coronavirus outbreak than other European leaders, telling a news conference on March 3 that he had been shaking hands with coronavirus patients.
He then changed tack when scientific projections showed a quarter of a million people could die in the United Kingdom.
Johnson effectively shuttered the world’s fifth-largest economy, advising people to stay at home and the elderly or infirm to isolate themselves for weeks.
The virus, though, had already penetrated the British government.
Johnson and his health minister tested positive last month and his chief medical adviser also self-isolated. Johnson’s pregnant 32-year-old fiancée, Carrie Symonds, also had symptoms but said on Saturday she was feeling better.
From an apartment above Number 11 Downing Street, and with food brought to his door, Johnson continued to lead the government’s response and chaired meetings via video conference.
He has posted a series of video messages since then, initially appearing in a suit and tie but in the latest post on Friday, he appeared weary, sitting in a chair with his shirt open at the neck.
“Although I’m feeling better and I’ve done my seven days of isolation, alas I still have one of the symptoms, a minor symptom, I still have a temperature,” he said.
Writing by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Kate Holton, Michael Holden and Angus MacSwan
