Boris Johnson must rest up, says UK PM’s father

London, April 10 (IANS) UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson “must rest up” after he was moved from intensive care with coronavirus, his father said on Friday.

The Prime Minister was admitted to the St Thomas’ Hospital in London on Sunday, on the advice of his doctor, after continuing to have a cough and high temperature 10 days after testing positive for the virus, the BBC reported.

The Prime Minister was given oxygen before being taken to intensive care on Monday.

On Thursday night, Downing Street said that Johnson “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”

Speaking to the BBC on Friday, the Prime Minister’s father Stanley Johnson, said: “He took one for the team and we’ve got to make sure we play properly now.”

Stanley Johnson spoke of his “relief” and said the whole family was “tremendously grateful” that the Prime Minister had been moved out of intensive care, adding that he thought his illness had “got the whole country to realise this is a serious event”.

“It does come close to home. It’s certainly made me feel cautious,” he told the BBC.

He added that there would have to be a “period of adjustment” before the Prime Minister returned to work in Downing Street, saying “he must rest up”.

Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is standing in for Johnson, has said that lockdown restrictions will stay in place until evidence showed the UK had moved beyond the peak of the virus.

He acknowledged it was hard for people hoping to go out and be with their families over Easter, but urged restraint.

Raab was speaking ahead of a bank holiday weekend forecasted to see higher temperatures in London on Saturday, though cooler weather was expected on Sunday.

This comes as a total of 7,978 people have died in the UK after testing positive for coronavirus, up by 881 on Wednesday.

There were now a total of 65,872 confirmed cases in the country.

Downing Street has said it gave its “full backing” to officers enforcing the lockdown rules, the BBC reported.

A government spokesperson said: “We understand that people will want to spend time with their friends and families this Easter, and we recognise that we are asking the public to make sacrifices in the fight against this disease.

“We are at a crucial moment in preventing further transmission of coronavirus, and so it is vital that we continue following the government’s guidance.”

–IANS

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