LONDON • British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is in a stable condition in intensive care and is responding to treatment for a severe coronavirus infection, his spokesman said.
Mr Johnson has been receiving standard treatment with oxygen and has not needed a ventilator, Mr James Slack told reporters in London. "The Prime Minister remains clinically stable and is responding to treatment," he added.
While Mr Johnson is "in good spirits", he is not working and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is now in charge of the government in all areas, Mr Slack said, adding that Mr Johnson "has the ability to contact those that he needs to ".
Scientists predict that the United Kingdom will be headed into the peak of the coronavirus outbreak over the next week, at a time when the country is without its leader.
The government is already battling criticism of its handling of the crisis, with hospitals short of protective equipment and testing rates lagging behind those of other countries.
With signs of the pandemic turning the corner in Spain and Italy, Europe's hardest-hit countries, Britain is moving into its most critical phase, with a record daily number of deaths reported on Tuesday.
The UK Department of Health said yesterday that the number of people dying from Covid-19 had risen by 786 in 24 hours, bringing the total to 6,159.
Chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance said there were signs for optimism in the numbers of new infections, which were stable. There are now more than 55,000 confirmed cases in the UK.
More data would be needed, though, before the authorities could make any decision to end a lockdown that is crippling the country's economy.
Mr Raab also said on Tuesday that the country is "not at that stage yet" when a lockdown decision can be taken.
Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt suggested it may be another month before the government can lift restrictions.
Briefing reporters yesterday, Mr Slack said a decision is likely to be announced on whether to extend or ease the lockdown next week, as planned.
"We need to keep delivering a very clear message to the public that while this is difficult they need to stick with it," he said. "We are at a critical time in our fight against the coronavirus. They need to stay at home... and save lives."
Ministers are debating how long the world's fifth-largest economy could afford to be shut down, and the long-term implications of one of the most stringent sets of emergency controls in peacetime history.
Former foreign secretary Malcolm Rifkind told BBC TV that most major decisions had been taken with the important exception of whether or not to ease the lockdown, a call that would need to be made in the next week or soon after.
While such a decision would be made by the Cabinet even if Mr Johnson were not unwell, he said the Prime Minister had authority and sway as the primus inter pares - Latin for "first among equals".
"He very often can steer the direction in a particular way. Dominic Raab doesn't have the authority nor would he claim it," Mr Rifkind said.
BLOOMBERG, REUTERS
