LONDON, England – According to multiple media reports, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was moved to an intensive care unit on Monday after his coronavirus symptoms worsened.
Johnson, 55-years-old, was admitted to hospital on Sunday night and had been undergoing tests after suffering persistent coronavirus symptoms, including a high temperature, for more than 10 days.
Downing Street said he had been moved to the intensive care unit as “a precaution should he require ventilation to aid his recovery” and that he was in good spirits.
“Over the course of this afternoon, the condition of the Prime Minister has worsened and, on the advice of his medical team, he has been moved to the Intensive Care Unit at the hospital,” a spokesman for his office said.
Britain has no formal succession plan should the prime minister become incapacitated, but Johnson asked Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to deputize for him.
Johnson was moved to an ICU at St Thomas’ hospital, across the River Thames from the Houses of Parliament in central London.
He first tested positive for the virus on March 26. His spokesman had earlier refused to answer directly after being asked whether he had pneumonia.