UK’s Johnson Admitted to Hospital for Covid-19 Tests after Coronavirus Symptoms ‘Persist’

By Staff, Agencies

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was admitted to hospital for tests, as the symptoms of his Coronavirus infection persisted.

Johnson is one of nearly 48,000 Britons to have caught the deadly virus.

“On the advice of his doctor, the prime minister has tonight been admitted to hospital for tests,” Downing Street said in a statement on Sunday evening. “This is a precautionary step,” the statement continued, “as the prime minister continues to have persistent symptoms of coronavirus 10 days after testing positive for the virus.”

Johnson has worked in isolation since he was diagnosed with the illness, and described himself as “feeling better” on Friday. The PM has communicated with the public via video filmed on his phone, and looked visibly ill throughout the week. At a press conference shortly before Johnson was admitted to hospital, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the British leader was “OK.”

Nearly 48,000 Britons have contracted the illness, while 621 new fatalities since Friday brought the country’s death toll to 5,903. The British government is preparing for a possible peak in casualties next weekend, and Queen Elizabeth II warned the public on Sunday that Britain “may have more still to endure.”

Before his own diagnosis, Johnson issued a stark declaration to the British public in mid-March. Describing the pandemic as “the worst public health crisis for a generation,” he warned that “many more families are going to lose loved ones before their time.”

Delivered before the UK shuttered down businesses and ordered citizens to remain at home, Johnson’s warning stirred accusations of insensitivity and tone-deafness.

As infections began to rise, and even after a lockdown was implemented, critics continued to hammer him for his speech, comparing it unfavorably to the more compassionate tone struck by the country’s neighbors.