Government defends response as PM ‘improving’ in hospital
Questions over medical measures inside No 10 Sunak insists Johnson’s healthcare was ‘excellent’
THE GOVERNMENT has defended the measures taken to prevent the nation’s most senior politicians from getting coronavirus as it was reported Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s condition in intensive care was “improving”.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak was asked at the daily briefing yesterday whether more could have been done to protect the Prime Minister, with examples given of Winston Churchill having his own doctor and President Donald Trump his own medical team.
Several members of the Cabinet have self-isolated after displaying symptoms of coronavirus, and Health Secretary Matt Hancock tested positive for Covid-19, but has since recovered.
But Mr Sunak, the MP for Richmond in North Yorkshire, maintained that the care which Mr Johnson had received had been “excellent”.
He said: “I think the Prime Minister has received excellent care and advice every step of the process.
“At the end of the day, we’re all trying our absolute best, none of
The Prime Minister has received excellent care and advice...
Chancellor Rishi Sunak, the MP for Richmond in North Yorkshire, us are superhuman and impervious to getting sick during this process and that’s what makes this whole thing so awful for all of us.
“But as I’ve observed and seen, the advice, the care has been excellent, not just beforehand but especially now at St Thomas’s (Hospital).”
Mr Sunak revealed yesterday that Mr Johnson was sitting up in his hospital bed, but that he was set to spend a third night in intensive care – his fourth night in hospital.
He said: “I can also tell you that he has been sitting up in bed and engaging positively with the clinical team.
“The Prime Minister is not only my colleague and my boss but also my friend, and my thoughts are with him and his family.”
Earlier in the day, Downing Street confirmed Mr Johnson was not working while in intensive care and thanked the public for messages of support.
When asked if anyone has been in contact with Mr Johnson, the
Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “The PM is not working, he’s in intensive care, he has the ability to contact those that he needs to, he’s following the advice of his doctors at all times.
“We are hugely grateful for the messages of support that the Prime Minister has received.”
The spokesman added: “The Prime Minister remains clinically stable and is responding to treatment. He continues to be cared for in the intensive care unit at St Thomas’s Hospital. He’s in good spirits.”
The Prime Minister yesterday continued to receive “standard oxygen treatment” and is “breathing without any other assistance”, he added.
When asked about specifics of the Mr Johnson’s condition and treatment, the spokesman said: “The information in the update which we have provided was given to us by St Thomas’ Hospital and it contains all the information that the PM’s medical team consider to be clinically relevant.”