Prime Minister Boris Johnson is a 'fighter' who will 'pull through' despite coronavirus while the cabinet is focused on defeating Covid-19
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Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has described Prime Minister Boris Johnson as a fighter who he is confident will pull through after he was admitted to St Thomas’ hospital in London.
Mr Raab was speaking at the daily Downing Street Covid-19 briefing after his first full day deputising for Mr Johnson who remains in intensive care after contracting the coronavirus.
He said: “The Prime Minister is receiving the best care for the excellent medical team at St Thomas’ Hospital. He remained stable overnight, he is receiving standard oxygen treatment and breathing without any assistance.
“He has not required any mechanical ventilation or non-invasive respiratory support. He remains in good spirits and in keeping with usual clinical practice, his condition continues to be monitored closely and we will give further updates on the PM’s condition when there are any material developments.
“And I know that there has been a groundswell of support from people at home and from leaders across the world and I know that everyone will want to join with me in wishing the Prime Minister a very swift recovery.
“I think it is probably worth remembering that as with anyone up and down the country who knows someone at work who has fallen ill with coronavirus, it has come as a shock to all of us.
“He is not just the Prime Minister, he is not just our boss, he is our colleague and he is also our friend so all of our thoughts are with him right now, with Carrie [Symonds, his fiancée] and with his whole family and I am confident he will pull through because if there is one thing that I know about this Prime Minister, it is that he is a fighter.”
Speaking about his now critical role in leading the government, Mr Raab revealed the cabinet would be carrying on its functions as the Prime Minister would have wished.
“The Prime Minister has asked me to deputise for him while he recovers and in line with the Prime Minister’s instructions, this morning I chaired the meeting of senior ministers tackling coronavirus and this afternoon I chaired an update for members of the cabinet.
“And of course for us in cabinet, we know exactly what he wants from us and what he expects from us right now and following the cabinet discussion today I can reassure the Prime Minister and we can reassure the public that his team will not blink and we will not flinch from the task at hand in this crucial moment.
“We will keep all of our focus and all of our resolve with calm determination on delivering the government's plan to defeat the coronavirus.
“And it is with that objective and that unity of purpose that the cabinet turned to business today. We had reports from four ministerial groups on the action we are taking across all of the strategic priority areas.
“They include NHS capacity, procurement of ventilators and personal protective equipment, the delivery of public services including social care and on the economy, and our support for businesses and workers and of course international action we’re taking to reinforce our efforts on the home front.”
