Boris Johnson to return to work on Monday
London, Apr 26 (efe-epa).- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will return to work on Monday to take the helm of the government having overcome Covid-19, No 10 sources have said.
The PM has been recovering in his official country residence in Chequers after he was treated in the St Thomas’ Hospital intensive care unit earlier this month.
Johnson tested positive for Covid-19 on 27 March and after his symptoms worsened, was admitted to hospital on 5 April.
He was soon transferred to ICU where he received standard oxygen treatment.
When the PM left the hospital on 12 April, Johnson said he owed his life to NHS staff and was quoted by British media as telling a cabinet meeting on Sunday that public was health the government’s top priority.
Foreign Secretary and First Secretary of state Dominic Raab, who has been deputizing the PM, has described the leader as “raring to go.”
But Johnson will return at a time his government is facing mounting pressure to ease the lockdown which has been in place since the 23 March in a bid to contain the spread of the virus.
The UK recorded the grim milestone of 20,319 Covid-19 deaths on Saturday, making it the fifth country in the world with the highest death toll, behind the United States, Italy, Spain and France.
The conservative leader will no doubt face criticism over his handling of the crisis after the government’s scientific adviser Patrick Wallace said last month the aim was to limit the number of deaths to 20,000 or less, a goal the government has failed to reach.
Shadow minister for Mental Health, Rosena Allin-Khan, who is working as a doctor during the crisis, on Sunday criticized the government’s handling of the pandemic for having ruled a lockdown “too late,” the Labour MP told Sky News.
