He is self-isolating but will still lead the govt\u2019s response to the outbreak
\nnews agency
\nLONDON
\nBritish Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday he had tested positive for coronavirus and was self-isolating but would still lead the government\u2019s response to the outbreak.
\nA Downing Street spokesman said Johnson, 55, experienced mild symptoms on Thursday \u2014 a day after he answered at the prime minister\u2019s weekly question-and-answer session in parliament\u2019s House of Commons chamber.
\n\u201cOver the last 24 hours I have developed mild symptoms and tested positive for coronavirus,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cI am now self-isolating, but I will continue to lead the government\u2019s response via video-conference as we fight this virus.\u201d
\nIt was not immediately clear how many Downing Street staff and senior ministers would now need to isolate given that many have had contact with Johnson over recent days and weeks.
\nWhen Britain clapped health workers on Thursday evening, Johnson and his finance minister Rishi Sunak came out of separate entrances on Downing Street and did not come into close contact, according to a Reuters photographer at the scene.
\nPreviously the government has said that Johnson had the option to delegate to Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab if needed.
\n\u201cThe prime minister was tested for coronavirus on the personal advice of England\u2019s Chief Medical Officer, Professor Chris Whitty,\u201d the spokesman said.
\n\u201cThe test was carried out in No 10 by NHS staff and the result of the test was positive,\u201d the spokesman said.
\nSo far, 578 people in the United Kingdom have died after testing positive for coronavirus and the number of confirmed cases has risen to 11,658. The UK toll is the seventh worst in the world, after Italy, Spain, China, Iran, France and the United States, according to a Reuters tally.
\nBritain\u2019s Prince Charles, the 71-year-old heir to the British throne, tested positive for coronavirus earlier this week but is in good health and is now self-isolating at his residence in Scotland with mild symptoms along with his wife Camilla, who tested negative, his office said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
He is self-isolating but will still lead the govt\u2019s response to the outbreak news agency LONDON British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday he had tested positive for coronavirus and was self-isolating but would still lead the government\u2019s response to the outbreak. A Downing Street spokesman said Johnson, 55, experienced mild symptoms on Thursday […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":114499,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-114474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n