Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
PM in intensive care as health worsens
PR I M E M i n iste r Bor is Johnson has been moved to intensive care after his cor on av i r u s s y mptoms worsened.
Mr Johnson, 55, was admitted to St Thomas’ Hospital in central London on Sunday after his coronavirus symptoms persisted for 10 days.
Having been in hospital for tests and observation, his doctors advised that he be admitted to intensive care yesterday evening.
Mr Johnson is understood to be conscious and was moved to intensive care at about 7pm as a precaution should he require ventilation to aid his recovery.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab will “deputise where necessary”, a Number 10 spokesman said.
The spokesman added: “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 PM has asked Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is the First Secretary of State, to deputise for him where necessary.
“The PM is receiving excellent care, and thanks all NHS staff for their hard work and dedication.”
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said yesterday morning that Mr Johnson had been taken to hospital on the advice of his doctor and as a “precaution”, and that it was not an emergency admission. At the daily Number 10 news conference yesterday Mr Raab faced repeated questions as to how Mr Johnson could cope with the demands of the premiership if he was sick enough to require hospital treatment.
Downing Street, which had previously described his symptoms as “mild”, switched to describing them as “persistent”.
They included a cough as well as a continuing high temperature, 10 days after he first tested positive for the coronavirus.
Mr Raab said he had last spoken to the PM on Saturday – almost 48 hours before being sent to brief the nation on his his well-being and efforts to tackle Covid-19.