British Prime Minister Boris Johnson participating in a national ‘clap for carers’ on April 2, after he had tested positive for coronavirus and was in self isolation.
Photo: pippa fowles/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesLONDON—British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was admitted to intensive care at a London hospital Monday as he struggles to recover from the new coronavirus.
The British government said in a statement that Mr. Johnson’s condition had worsened over the afternoon. The 55-year-old had been admitted to hospital on Sunday after suffering persistent symptoms from Covid-19 for 10 days. Mr. Johnson has asked Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to deputize for him, the government said.
An official said that the prime minister remained conscious and was moved to intensive care at 7 p.m. U.K. time (2 p.m. EDT) as a precautionary step.
Earlier Monday, a government spokesman said Mr. Johnson had a “comfortable night” and was “in good spirits” in St. Thomas’ hospital in central London, receiving briefings and contacting members of his team.
With Mr. Johnson absent, Mr. Raab had already held Monday morning’s government crisis-response meeting.
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“I’m in good spirits and keeping in touch with my team, as we work together to fight this virus and keep everyone safe,” said a tweet from Mr. Johnson’s verified account earlier Monday.
Mr. Johnson’s illness has come at a critical time for the government as it faces the worst health crisis in a century. The virus’s effects are expected to peak in the U.K. as soon as this weekend and questions are growing about the government’s belated decision to lock down the country and how the restrictions can eventually be eased.
The number of confirmed cases and deaths in the U.K. has been climbing rapidly, though data released Monday showed the number of new cases falling from Sunday and 439 deaths related to Covid-19 in the previous 24 hours, the lowest daily figure so far in April. But scientists note that fatalities are a lagging indicator of the spread of the pandemic.
“It really is too soon to see the effects of the big changes we’ve all made to our lives,” Angela McLean, the government’s deputy chief scientific adviser said. She pointed out that the lockdown measures came into effect only two weeks ago and that it can take several weeks before an infected person’s symptoms worsen enough for them to need hospitalization.
Britain doesn’t have the equivalent of a vice president who automatically takes over if the prime minister dies. It is up to the members of the U.K. cabinet to decide among themselves who should lead the country if the prime minister dies or falls gravely ill.
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“It really depends on everyone just accepting that person has the same authority,” said Catherine Haddon, a constitutional expert at the Institute for Government.
Mr. Johnson smoothed some potential difficulties by designating Mr. Raab lead the cabinet in his stead. Should Mr. Raab in turn fall ill, the prime minister could—if he is able to—pick another member of his cabinet to replace him.
The British government initially took a laissez-faire approach to the illness, eschewing some of the more stringent clampdowns that were being imposed across Europe in an effort to minimize disruption.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab will lead Britain’s cabinet while Mr. Johnson is in hospital.
Photo: Dominic Lipinski/Zuma PressThe government’s pandemic plan, which was crafted by scientists over the last two decades, played down the need to rush to shut schools and ban mass gatherings, arguing they did little to stop a virus’s spread.
Meanwhile, British epidemiologists initially underestimated how many people could require intensive care if they got ill, according to officials. Worried that the British public wouldn’t isolate for weeks on end, the government reasoned it was better to wait until the virus’s spread was accelerating to impose a lockdown.
Even as evidence mounted about the seriousness of the virus’s spread, Britain’s crowded parliament and the warren of buildings around Downing Street, where Mr. Johnson both lives and works, were humming with people.
“I am shaking hands continuously,” Mr. Johnson said at the start of March. “I was at a hospital the other night where there were actually a few coronavirus patients and I shook hands with everybody.”
Downing Street continued to operate much as normal with briefings in the state room and meetings convened around crowded tables in the building’s drawing rooms.
On March 16 scientists advising the government concluded that the clampdown needed to be accelerated following a series of reports by modelers showing the National Health Service would quickly be swamped.
Even after Mr. Johnson locked down the country on March 23, he continued to attend cabinet in person. The same week he fell ill Mr. Johnson attended a “virtual” cabinet meeting sitting with both the health secretary and the country’s most senior civil servant.
Police outside St.Thomas's Hospital in London, where the prime minister is being treated for coronavirus.
Photo: andy rain/ShutterstockThe virus then spread through his top team. Mr. Johnson’s chief of staff Dominic Cummings and the country’s chief medical officer Chris Whitty isolated with symptoms. The health secretary, Matt Hancock, subsequently fell ill.
Mr. Johnson’s pregnant fiancée, Carrie Symonds, said she has also suffered symptoms of the virus. Most of Mr. Johnson’s team is back at work and Ms. Symonds tweeted at the weekend that she was now feeling stronger. Mr. Cummings isn’t back in Downing Street yet but is working.
Mr. Johnson put on a brave face once in isolation. He published a series of videos in which he said he had mild symptoms.
However, people who were in contact with him mid-last week were expressing concern about his well-being. Mr. Johnson continued to lead cabinet meetings via video link in his study.
He also appeared outside his door in Downing Street on Thursday to join a nationwide applause of National Health Service workers. The government insisted that his symptoms were still mild but admitted his condition wasn’t improving.
By Friday a pale-looking Mr. Johnson told the nation via a self-filmed video that he would continue to isolate because of a persistent fever. At 8 p.m. on Sunday, as Queen Elizabeth addressed the nation imploring people to follow social-distancing guidelines, Mr. Johnson was driven to hospital for tests.
Mr. Johnson’s government is currently working to ramp up tests for the virus, after failing to stockpile the necessary equipment before the virus struck.
On Monday it confirmed that millions of antibody tests it had ordered, which would check if people had gained immunity to Covid-19, didn’t function properly. The government is in discussion with manufacturers to refine them, an official said.
The last prime minister to have to sound out his cabinet for a successor while ill was Harold MacMillan in 1963. He resigned shortly after.
Any replacement to Mr. Johnson would need to be named by the Queen, requiring the cabinet to agree among themselves who can best command support of the country. That leader would likely be an interim prime minister until the ruling Conservative Party could choose a new head.
—Jason Douglas contributed to this article.
Write to Max Colchester at max.colchester@wsj.com
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2020-04-06 19:47:00Z
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