Boris Johnson has been moved out of intensive care after treatment for the Coronavirus, Downing Street has said.
The Prime Minister was admitted to the unit at St Thomas’s Hospital in Westminster on Monday evening after worsening symptoms of Covid-19.
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Mr Johnson, 55, had been admitted just 24 hours earlier on Sunday evening after he was unable to shake off a persistent high temperature after 10 days in self-isolation with the condition.
However, he did not receive treatment on a ventilator and has now been deemed well enough to return to the ward.
“The Prime Minister has been moved this evening from intensive care back to the ward, where he will receive close monitoring during the early phase of his recovery,” a Downing Street spokesman said.
“He is in extremely good spirits.”
Initially it was described as a “precautionary” measure and on Monday he was said to be issuing instructions and working on his ministerial red boxes from his hospital bed.
But by the evening his condition had deteriorated and he was moved to the intensive care unit in case he required a ventilator.
The announcement was greeted with shock at Westminster amid fears that No 10 had sought to play down the seriousness of his condition.
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The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said that while he had received oxygen treatment, he had not needed to be put on a ventilator or CPAP machine.
By Wednesday he was said to have been well enough to sit up in bed and to communicate with his medical team.
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