PM KEPT WORKING AS HE WORSENED

He insisted on getting his red box of papers in hospital bed

Boris Johnson was moved into an intensive care unit last night following a day of rumour and counter-rumour about the state of his health.

The Prime Minister had insisted on working from his hospital bed even as his condition deteriorated yesterday.

Downing street said he was still insisting on receiving his ‘red box’ of official papers, despite being ‘under observation’ by doctors in case his condition went into decline.

But after Mr Johnson’s condition worsened during the afternoon, the decision was taken at 7pm to take him to the intensive care unit at st Thomas’ Hospital in London, in case he needs a ventilator to help him in his recovery.

only two hours earlier, Foreign secretary Dominic raab – the man who will deputise for him now he is in intensive care – told the public that Mr Johnson was still in charge of the Government’s response to the coronavirus crisis.

Last night’s dramatic events came after 24 hours in which Downing street had insisted the PM was ‘in good spirits’ and there was no cause for alarm.

The official line was that he had been admitted to hospital on sunday night only as a ‘precaution’.

But from the start some questioned why the 55-year-old had been held in hospital overnight – questions which only grew as they day went on, especially when it emerged Mr raab had not even spoken to him.

No 10 tried its best to radiate calm. officials put mild-mannered Housing secretary robert Jenrick on the airwaves to assure the nation that there was nothing seriously wrong. on the BBC radio 4 Today programme, Mr Jenrick even suggested the PM would be out of hospital ‘shortly’.

At the daily lobby briefing at 11am, the Downing street spokesman said Mr Johnson was ‘very much in charge’ and was perfectly able to take charge of the country’s affairs from his hospital bed. The spokesman insisted that while Mr cabinet’ raab on had coronavirus, chaired the that morning was all ‘war he was doing.

Asked directly whether the PM had pneumonia, his official spokesman said: ‘ You have all of the facts relevant to the Prime Minister.’ The spokesman said Mr Johnson had had a ‘comfortable night’ on sunday and was in ‘ good spirits’. Downing street insisted it had been ‘transparent’ about the state of the PM’s health.

This was the mood throughout the upper reaches of the Government: even privately, Cabinet ministers were upbeat about his health as late as the afternoon. And Mr Johnson himself insisted he was in ‘good spirits’. on Twitter, in which he thanked ‘brilliant’ NHs staff, he said: ‘on the advice of my doctor, i went into hospital for some routine tests as i’m still experiencing coronavirus symptoms. i’m in good spirits and keeping in touch with my team, as we work together to fight this virus and keep everyone safe.’

That afternoon, at 5pm, Mr raab gave the Government’s daily press conference, at which he claimed all was well. But suspicions were raised when he revealed he had not spoken to the PM since he had been admitted to hospital, which seemed odd considering he had chaired the ‘war cabinet’ meeting.

Behind the scenes, events were escalating fast.

Mr Johnson’s health took a turn for the worse and his medical team took the decision to move him to the hospital’s iCU. The PM was taken to the iCU at 7pm. only at 8.10pm was the truth revealed to the public, through a Downing street press release.

‘In good spirits and keeping in touch’