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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has left intensive care and was transferred to a general ward to “closely monitor” his recovery from the coronavirus, Downing Street said Thursday night.
The prime minister was admitted to the hospital last Sunday with persistent symptoms of the virus and was transferred to intensive care on Monday after he experienced difficulty breathing.
At a previous press conference, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is replacing the prime minister, said he “continues to take positive steps forward and is in a good mood.”
Chief Medical Adviser Patrick Vallance said at the briefing that the rate of hospital admissions for Covid-19 in Britain is starting to drop as a result of social distancing measures, but the number of daily deaths will continue to rise for several weeks. Vallance said the number of new cases was not accelerating and that there would be “many, many more people in the hospital” if it weren’t for the closure.
Britain recorded 881 new deaths from the coronavirus on Thursday, totaling 7,978.
“This will not change in a few weeks because deaths occur after illness, early illness, intensive care,” said Vallance.
Raab said the prime minister, who was due to spend his fourth night in intensive care, “continues to take positive steps forward and is in a good mood.” Raab chaired a meeting on the virus on Thursday with senior ministers, leaders of delegated administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and the Mayor of London.
They discussed the blockade, which will be reviewed next week, but Raab made clear that no decision would be made on when or how to lift the restrictions until the end of next week.
“The government continues to collect all the relevant data to obtain the most complete picture possible of the effect of the social distancing measures that we have implemented. Now, while early signs suggest they are having the impact we need to see, it is too early to say conclusively, “he said.
“As we have said on many occasions now, science will guide us at all times. Therefore, we do not expect to be able to say more about this until the end of next week. Let me be very clear about this again. The measures will have to stay in place, until we have the evidence that clearly shows that we have moved beyond the peak. “
Raab acknowledged the cost that the restrictions are affecting the public, including people’s mental health. And in a sign of the economic cost of shutting down the economy, the government said it is expanding the size of its “Means and Excise Facility,” a kind of Bank of England overdraft.
Work reaction
Labor has called on the government to publish its strategy to break the blockade and begin a return to normal economic activity.
“Labor urged the government to interpose the so-called closure and support forced social distancing to save lives and protect the National Health Service, where it is based on medical evidence,” said shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth.
“The British public has shown tremendous resolve in adhering to the measures, but it is understandable that they are seeking greater clarity from ministers on their exit strategy. We have previously said that a blockade in itself is a powerful tool without a national strategy for community testing and contact tracking. We call on ministers to describe the next stage of their strategy to give the public the calm and clarity they expect. “
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