Medic describes kind of treatment UK PM might receive

A UK medical expert on Tuesday explained of care UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson might be getting after he was transferred to intensive care as he continues to battle coronavirus.

Johnson has spent night in an intensive care unit of a London hospital after his COVID-19 symptoms, condition caused by virus, dramatically worsened.

Mervyn Singer, Professor of intensive care medicine at University College London, said most COVID patients in intensive care due to virus need help breathing.

He explained this was done through oxygen masks and specialised pressure masks before a ventilator was used.

"Essentially COVID-19 patients, if y need to be ventilated, often are taking 10, 14 days, even longer," he said.

He also said it could be weeks or months before Johnson recovers fully after leaving intensive care.

"re's something called post intensive care syndrome, which is very, very well recognised," he said. "So patients who are critically ill (have) h stuffing kcked out of m and it can take actually weeks or sometimes even months to fully recover."

For most people, new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks.

For some, especially older ults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.