In control, U.K.’s Johnson says

Leader working in self-isolation after contact tests positive

LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson insisted Monday that he is firmly in control of the government, despite having to self-isolate for two weeks because a contact tested positive for the coronavirus.

The quarantine order came at the start of a crucial week in which Johnson is trying to suppress a new surge in U.K. coronavirus infections, quell turmoil within his Conservative Party and secure a trade deal with the European Union.

Johnson said in a video message on Twitter that he was “fit as a butcher’s dog” and had no covid-19 symptoms. He said he would continue to govern using “Zoom and other forms of electronic communication.”

Johnson met with some Conservative lawmakers for about 35 minutes Thursday at his 10 Downing St. office in London. One, Lee Anderson, subsequently developed coronavirus symptoms and tested positive.

Johnson was contacted by the national test-and-trace system by email on Sunday. He said he was following its order to self-isolate for 14 days inside his Downing Street apartment even though he said he is “bursting with antibodies” after recovering from the virus earlier this year.

“It doesn’t matter that we were all doing social distancing. It doesn’t matter that I’m fit as a butcher’s dog, feel great — so many people do in my circumstances,” he said.

Johnson said the fact he had been “pinged” by the test-andtrace network was evidence that the much-criticized system was working. The system routinely fails to contact more than a third of infected people’s contacts.

Four other lawmakers who attended the meeting said they were also in quarantine.

Britain has recorded over 52,000 deaths of people with the virus, the highest toll in Europe, and experts say all such official numbers in the pandemic understate its true toll.

Johnson spent a week in the hospital with the virus in April, including three nights in intensive care. He later thanked medics for saving his life when it “could have gone either way.”

Several other ministers, officials and Downing Street staff members also became sick with covid-19 in the spring, including Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty and Health Secretary Matt Hancock.

Officials say Downing Street is now a “covid-secure workplace,” with staff observing social distancing and some working from home. But a photo released of Johnson and Anderson shows the two without masks and standing less than the recommended 6 feet apart.

People who recover from the virus are thought to have some immunity, but it’s unclear how long it lasts.

Johnson had planned a series of meetings and announcements this week to reboot his premiership after losing two top aides.

Chief adviser Dominic Cummings and communications director Lee Cain quit last week amid reports of power struggles inside Downing Street.

Johnson also planned to lead meetings this week to decide the next steps in Britain’s response to the coronavirus. A four-week nationwide lockdown for England is to end Dec. 2, but it’s unclear whether it will have been enough to curb a surge in infections.

U.K. and EU negotiators continue negotiations in Brussels to try to seal a last-minute trade deal before Britain makes a financial break from the bloc on Dec. 31.

Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday the number of new coronavirus cases in the country is flattening following two weeks of new restrictions, but it’s too early to tell whether more will be necessary.

Merkel said Germany is a long way from tamping down the number of new cases to 50 per 100,000 residents over seven days — a level above which experts say it’s impossible to trace outbreaks.

Germany’s disease control center on Monday reported the case rate as 143.3 per 100,000 people. Germany’s states reported 10,824 daily confirmed cases on Monday but the seven-day daily average has stayed above 17,000.

Additionally, an internal email obtained by The Associated Press shows the World Health Organization has recorded 65 cases of the coronavirus among staff based at its headquarters, including five people who worked on the premises and were in contact with one another.

The U.N. health agency said it is investigating how and where the five people became infected — and that it has not determined whether transmission happened at its offices. WHO’s confirmation Monday of the figures in the email was the first time it has publicly provided such a count.