The latest headlines in your inbox
Boris Johnson has received “oxygen support” but is not on a ventilator as he continues to fight coronavirus in an intensive care unit, Michael Gove has said.
Mr Gove said: “He is not on a ventilator. The Prime Minister has received some oxygen support. He is kept, of course, under close supervision.”
The Prime Minister was moved to the ICU at St Thomas’ Hospital in London last night to ensure he is close to a ventilator if needed, as his Covid-19 symptoms “persisted”.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab will lead today’s Covid-19 meeting , having done the same yesterday, and will stand in to fill the void left by Mr Johnson.
Follow our live updates below…
Live Updates
Michael Gove said the decision about lifting lockdown restrictions will not be delayed due to the PM being in hospital.
He told Good Morning Britain:
No it won’t be delayed. It will be the case that we will take that decision collectively as a Cabinet.
The person who will chair that Cabinet, the person who will make the final decision of course is, as I mentioned earlier, the Foreign Secretary.
But I think it’s important to recognise, yeah lockdown is painful, it’s difficult.
It’s particularly difficult if you’re living in circumstances where you don’t have easy access to green space, you’ve maybe got children at home.
I don’t underestimate how difficult it is, but the Prime Minister’s condition is a terrible and sad reminder of the fact that this disease spreads rapidly, and has a virulence which is frightening.
So that’s one of the reasons we have this lockdown, so we can slow the spread of the disease and strengthen the NHS.
School closures taken on their own do not appear to have a significant effect on the spread of infections during outbreaks such as Covid-19, a study suggests.
Speaker says House’s thoughts are with the PM
Michael Gove said he could not comment about national security matters when asked if responsibilities connected to nuclear attack had been passed on to Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab.
He also said any decisions about the lockdown would be “taken collectively following appropriate advice”, adding on the issue of a national government: “I don’t think anyone is talking in those terms, no.”
Conservative MP and defence committee chairman Tobias Ellwood tweeted: “Wishing PM swift recovery. Dominic Raab now deputising.
“Listening to Micheal Gove on TODAY – it is important to have 100% clarity as to where responsibility for UK national security decisions now lies. We must anticipate adversaries attempting to exploit any perceived weakness.”
Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said the PM’s situation “really does bring it home” but he added that government will always carry on.
He told BBC Breakfast:
Government will always continue. The people are there, the support’s there. Whatever happens, no matter how bad it is, the country continues, government continues.
What we’ve got to do is wish this Prime Minister well, a speedy recovery.
I don’t think it’s going to be as quick as one expects, but we’ve got to get him back to the helm.
But, in the meantime, government will always continue, people pull together.
China has reported no new Covid-19-related deaths for the first time since health authorities began putting out daily figures.
A coronavirus patient who spent nearly a week in intensive care said he wants people to know they “can survive this”.
Michael Gove said there is a “great team spirit in Government as we work together at this time”.
He has praised the civil service for its work in recent months.
Michael Gove has said the PM was following the medical advice he was given and he had a “stripped back diary” in order to do so.
He told Radio 4 Mr Johnson is not on a ventilator and that any change will be made public by Number 10.
New Zealand’s health minister described himself as an “idiot” as he was demoted for breaching the country’s strict lockdown measures.
David Clark drove his family 12 miles from their home to the beach in the early stages of lockdown. He also previously admitted driving to a park near his home to go mountain biking.
Michael Gove has said the PM is not on a ventilator, adding that if his condition changes the Government will make an official statement.
He told LBC:
The prime minister has received some oxygen support and he is kept under, of course, close supervision.
Micheal Gove said ministers and officials are “working effectively together” to carry out Boris Johnson’s plan while he is unable to do so.
He told BBC Breakfast:
We’re all working together to implement the plan the Prime Minister set out in order to try to ensure that we can marshal all the resources of Government, indeed all the resources of our country, in the fight against this invisible enemy.
Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said today is not about politics as he wished Mr Johnson well.
He told BBC Breakfast:
He is of course our nation’s leader and we’re all rooting for him, we want him to come through this, because we want him back fit and healthy leading the fight against this awful, awful virus.
But he’s not just a politician is he? He’s a father, he’s with his new fiancee, they’re expecting a child, so this must be an awful time for his loved ones and we really do wish him the very, very best.
Gove praises ‘very best care’ for the PM
Speaking to the BBC, Mr Gove said:
As we speak, the prime minister is in intensive care, being looked after by his medical team, receiving the very, very best care from the team at St Thomas’ and our hopes and prayers are with him and with his family.
We all hope, we all hope that he can be restored to health as quickly as possible and that’s all we’re thinking about at the moment.
Former Tory party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said the situation Mr Johnson finds himself in “brings home” the reality of the virus.
He told BBC Breakfast:
So many families have not been able to attend their loved ones in hospital, so many families even have not been able to help or support them once the medical teams surround them.
And this is the same for Boris Johnson, arguably the most powerful man in Britain, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
He is in exactly the same position, in many senses, as just every other person in Britain.
He added:
The Boris I know is a fighter. He never gives up. His whole life has been about that, so I’m with him all the way as many of my friends and colleagues are.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has spent the night in intensive care while fighting the coronavirus, prompting an outpouring of support from around the world.
Mr Johnson was moved to the critical unit at St Thomas’ Hospital in London on Monday evening after his symptoms of Covid-19 worsened.
ICU allows ‘very close eye on people’
Ron Daniels says “at the first sign things are getting worse rather than stabilising or improving” is when those caring for the PM would consider a ventilator for him.
Airbnb hosts who have advertised properties as coronavirus lockdown retreats have been slammed by the Government as “dangerous and irresponsible”.
Mr Walden said he had been in touch with Mr Johnson a couple of times in the last fortnight, adding:
I had a brief exchange with him last week in which I was more concerned about him being in isolation and what he said back to me was ‘don’t worry, we’re going to beat it’.
What he meant by that, which is typical of Boris, is we as a country will come together and beat this disease, rather than thinking about himself in regard to that – and that’s pretty typical of the man.
Will Walden, a friend of Boris Johnson and his former director of communications during his time as London mayor, said the Prime Minister is a “really, really strong guy” and “far fitter than he looks”.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme:
He will whip anybody’s backside on a tennis court, he runs regularly, he doesn’t smoke, he drinks moderately.
So I think if anyone is in a good position both physically and mentally to fight off the disease then the Prime Minister is that person.
