Boris out of intensive care but treatment goes on to aid his recovery

He added: “It’ll still be a few weeks before he’s feeling like his old self though.”

In an interview yesterday, Mr Johnson’s father said the whole family was “amazingly grateful” for the efforts of the NHS and for the huge outpouring of support for his son.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that his son’s illness had underlined the seriousness of the pandemic.

“To use that American expression, he almost took one for the team. We have got to make sure we play the game properly now,” Mr Johnson senior said.

“This is pretty straightforward now,” he went on.

“He must rest up. As I understand it, he has moved from the ICU into a recovery unit, but I don’t think you can say this is out of the woods now.

“He has to take time. I cannot believe you can walk away from this and get straight back to Downing Street and pick up the reins without a period of readjustment.”

Mr Johnson senior’s comments are likely to be taken as a further indication that Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab will continue to deputise for the PM in the coming days.

Ministers have been at pains to stress that the business of government will continue while Mr Johnson is treated and recovers from his illness.

Professor Duncan Young, an ICU consultant, said staff will be monitoring the PM’s need for oxygen and assessing when he is able to go home.

Prof Young said it is “almost impossible to know” how long it will take for Mr Johnson to resume his normal activities.

The PM was admitted to hospital last Sunday evening for tests due to suffering continuing symptoms of Covid-19, having tested positive for the virus 10 days earlier.

Meanwhile, Mr Hancock said health and social care workers must treat protective equipment like the “precious resource that it is” as he set out the Government’s plan to address shortages.

He said there was enough personal protective equipment (PPE) to go around if it was used in line with official guidance, and his goal was that

“everyone” working in a critical role gets what they need.

But he acknowledged distributing masks, gloves, aprons and hand sanitiser to frontline workers was requiring a “Herculean logistical effort”.

Mr Hancock also cautioned against the use of protective gear outside of health and social care settings, saying hand washing, social distancing and staying at home are the best ways to keep safe.

“A front door is better than any face mask,” he added.

Mr Hancock said: “There’s enough PPE to go around, but only if it’s used in line with our guidance. We need everyone to treat PPE like the precious resource that it is. That means only using it when there’s a clinical need, and not using more than is needed.”

But health bodies expressed scepticism, said protective gear should not be a “precious resource”, and warned professionals would be angered by any suggestion that shortages are due to misuse.

The Health Secretary told the daily Downing Street press conference that more than 742 million pieces of PPE have been delivered so far during the outbreak.

This includes 161 million masks, 127 million aprons, one million gowns and 345 million pairs of gloves, which have gone to hospitals, ambulance trusts, GPs, social care and pharmacies.