Boris Johnson spends second night in intensive care

INTERNATIONAL DESK: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is spending a second night in intensive care as he continues to receive treatment for coronavirus, BBC reports.

The PM is being kept at St Thomas’ Hospital in London “for close monitoring”, Downing Street said.

Mr Johnson’s condition is “stable” and he remains in “good spirits”, his spokesman added on Tuesday evening.

Downing Street also confirmed that the planned review into whether the UK’s coronavirus restrictions could be eased would not go ahead this Monday.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is deputising for the PM, has said he was “confident” the PM would recover from this illness, describing him as a “fighter”.

Speaking at Tuesday’s Downing Street coronavirus briefing, he said Mr Johnson was receiving standard oxygen treatment and was breathing without any assistance, such as mechanical ventilation or non-invasive respiratory support.

It is understood there will not be a further update on Mr Johnson’s condition until later on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the first patients have been admitted to the NHS Nightingale Hospital in east London – a temporary facility set up at the ExCel conference centre.

The admissions come two weeks after the hospital with a planned capacity of 4,000 was formally announced – although an NHS spokesperson stressed limits had not been reached at other sites in London.

The prime minister was originally admitted to St Thomas’ on Sunday, on the advice of his doctor, after continuing to display symptoms of cough and high temperature 10 days after testing positive for the virus.

Mr Raab said the prime minister was being monitored closely in critical care, as was usual clinical practice.

Describing Mr Johnson as not only a boss but “also a friend”, Mr Raab said: “All of our thoughts and prayers are with the prime minister at this time, with Carrie, and with his whole family.

“And I’m confident he’ll pull through, because if there’s one thing I know about this prime minister, he’s a fighter. And he’ll be back at the helm, leading us through this crisis in short order.”

Buckingham Palace said the Queen had sent a message to Mr Johnson’s family and his pregnant fiancee, Carrie Symonds, saying she was thinking of them, and wished the PM a full and speedy recovery.

Prince William also tweeted a personal message of sympathy to the PM’s family, signing it off with his initial “W”, while his father, the Prince of Wales, sent a message from himself and the Duchess of Cornwall wishing Mr Johnson a “speedy recovery”, Clarence House said.