U.K. PM and health secretary infected
LONDON • Boris Johnson and his key lieutenants in the campaign against coronavirus were all fighting the illness Friday as it struck at the very heart of government.
The prime minister and Matt Hancock, the health secretary, both tested positive for the virus, with Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer, in isolation with clear symptoms.
Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, was working from home as a precaution after taking part in the Clap For Carers event in Downing Street with Johnson on Thursday night.
Duncan Selbie, head of Public Health England, also revealed he was self- isolating after developing symptoms last weekend.
Johnson, the first world leader to test positive for the virus, insisted he remained well enough to run the country via telephone and video link from Downing Street. He is avoiding all contact with colleagues by shutting himself away inside No 11, where he lives.
In a video posted on social media, he said: “I am working from home. I’m self- isolating. And that’s entirely the right thing to do.”
He faced questions about whether he had ignored his own rules on social distancing, as Johnson, Hancock and Whitty all attended a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, despite their crucial roles, when all other ministers had dialed in.
Johnson’s fiancée, Carrie Symonds, who is pregnant, is understood to have been living away for at least a week as a precaution after several members of staff were forced to self- isolate after feeling unwell.
The prime minister chaired a meeting of the daily COVID-19 committee from his office Friday despite suffering a temperature and cough, the two most common symptoms. He also took a call from Donald Trump.
If Johnson becomes too ill to continue working, Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, will become caretaker prime minister.
The United Kingdom has so far reported 14,579 cases of the virus and 759 deaths, with the peak of the epidemic in the country expected to come in a few weeks.
Simon Stevens, head of the NHS in England, said two temporary hospitals would be built in Birmingham and Manchester, in addition to a previously announced one in London.