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Boris Johnson is in a “stable” condition and is “comfortable and in good spirits”, a health minister has said.
“For many of us, he’s a colleague, he’s our boss and he’s a friend and we are all keen to see him make that swift recovery,” Edward Argar told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme on Wednesday morning.
“My understanding is the prime minister is in a stable condition, he is comfortable and in good spirits.
“I understand he hasn’t had to have mechanical ventilation although he did have some oxygen when he fist when into hospital.”
The prime minister spent a second night in intensive care in St Thomas’s hospital in London last night after his coronavirus symptoms worsened at the start of the week.
Foreign secretary Dominic Raab yesterday said he was “confident” the PM will pull through after a worsening of his coronavirus symptoms.
“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,” he said.
He said that ministers would not “blink or flinch” from following the instructions Johnson had set out before he was admitted to hospital.
But he appeared reluctant to say whether he would be prepared to take a decision to break with the PM’s strategy while he was still in hospital if he believed a change of direction was necessary.
“He’s asked me to deputise for him for as long as is necessary, but the normal Cabinet collective responsibility and principles that inform that will apply,” he said.
The latest official figures from the Department of Health and Social Care showed that 6,159 patients have died in hospital after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK as of 5pm on Monday – an increase of 786 on the previous day.