LONDON – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is self-isolating after someone he was in contact with tested positive for Covid-19, said a spokesman yesterday.
“He will carry on working from Downing Street, including on leading the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.”
Johnson was hospitalised with the coronavirus in April.
This time around, “the PM is well and does not have any symptoms of Covid-19”, said the spokesman.
The prime minister was informed that he should self-isolate after being contacted by the country’s Test and Trace scheme.
The announcement comes after Johnson met a small group of MPs at Downing Street on Thursday, including one who subsequently developed symptoms of Covid-19 and then tested positive.
Johnson, 56, contracted the virus and was placed in intensive care, where he spent three nights, in April, later crediting hospital staff with saving his life.
The British leader previously said his case was seriously worsened by being overweight, but that he had since lost 12kg.
“I am going to continue that diet, because you’ve got to search for the hero inside of yourself, in the hope that that individual is considerably slimmer,” he said in jest last month.
Britain is the worst-hit country in Europe by the pandemic, recording more than 50,000 deaths from some 1.2 million cases. – AFP, November 16, 2020
