Published 11:42 IST, May 3rd 2020
UK PM Boris Johnson reveals British govt had a plan in case he died of COVID-19
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson called battling with the deadly infection of coronavirus as “a tough old moment” and opened up about his first-hand experience.
- World News
- 3 min read
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has recalled battling with the deadly infection of coronavirus as “a tough old moment”. British PM opened up about his experience of contracting the COVID-19 disease that has now killed over 244,781 people across the world, and said in an interview with UK newspaper that the doctors “had a strategy to deal with ‘death of Stalin’-type scenario”. Earlier, when Johnson was admitted to the hospital after he continued to show symptoms of the disease, it was either Downing Street spokesperson or UK’s temporary leader, Dominic Raab who briefed about Johnson's health.
In the first instance when UK PM himself recalled the experience and said that he was “not in particularly brilliant shape” and added that he was “aware there were contingency plans in place". According to him, the doctors had "all sorts of arrangements for what to do if things went badly wrong". Moreover, the British PM had received “oxygen support” for nearly three days in the intensive care unit of the London hospital and was discharged on April 12 after being admitted on April 5.
Johnson admits that even after he was out of the hospital, his battle with COVID-19 “could have gone either way”. British PM told the newspaper that he did not think he would die, but the question that did cross his mind was, “how am I going to get out of this?”.
Johnson becomes father, resumes work
Boris Johnson and his fiancée Carrie Symonds announced the arrival of their first son at London Hospital on April 29 after he resumed work on April 27. The spokesperson of the couple reportedly said that the baby is “healthy” and both the newborn and Symonds are “doing very well”. The “thrilling” news of a baby boy came for the couple as Johnson recently resumed his Downing Street responsibilities after battling with coronavirus infection for several weeks.
Johnson had announced last month that he would be taking paternity leave in the summer after he becomes the father of his fifth child. Similar to the time UK PM was recovering from COVID-19 infection, during the paternity leave it is expected that British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab would be in charge of Johnson’s absence for nearly 14 days.
(With agency inputs)
Updated 11:42 IST, May 3rd 2020