British Prime Minister Boris Johnson hospitalized after coronavirus symptoms persist
Editor's note: The British prime minister was moved into intensive care Monday as his coronavirus symptoms worsened. Read the latest update here. Sunday's original story appears below.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was hospitalized Sunday, 10 days after testing positive for coronavirus. Johnson was admitted "for tests" after displaying "persistent symptoms," according to a press release from his office.
Johnson was admitted to an unnamed London hospital "on the advice of his doctor," the release explained. The statement also said the hospitalization is a "precautionary step."
Johnson tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus, on March 26 and has dealt with lingering symptoms, including a high fever, since then. Johnson is the first known world leader to contract the disease. Since then, the 55-year-old prime minister had been quarantined at his residence at 10 Downing Street.
Johnson remains the head of the British government for the time being, however, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab — who would take over for Johnson should he become unable to lead — will handle Monday's coronavirus meeting, according to The Associated Press.
Johnson made headlines in early March, when the outbreak was just starting to hit the U.K., for saying he had shaken hands with coronavirus patients that he had visited in the hospital.
"I shook hands with everybody, you will be pleased to know, and I continue to shake hands," Johnson said at a March 3 press conference. Johnson tested positive for the virus 23 days later. Johnson announced Britain was going on lockdown on March 24.
Johnson's fiance, Carrie Symonds, said Saturday on Twitter that she "spent the past week in bed with the main symptoms of coronavirus." Symonds said that she was not tested for coronavirus, and that "after seven days of rest, I feel stronger and I'm on the mend."