Continuing to try to work whilst suffering from it will definitely not have helped. You need to be resting and allowing your body to fight the infection.

 

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Really not good news about the PM. I hope for the best but I now fear the worst.

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I don't trust the data coming from China so I don't think we really know whether 'the West' is being hit harder. It's much too soon to draw any conclusions, IMO.

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My own view is that Boris would have been well advised to have stepped aside from his duties as PM as soon as he received confirmation that he had the virus.; I reckon that is what I would have done had I been in that position. I don't think the current cabinet has a designated Deputy Prime Minister but I imagine that they will have someone on standby ready to assume control if the PM is not able to; don't know who that is though.

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I would normally agree but Calderwood has resigned apparently.

 

And Catherine Calderwood has just resigned...

— Laura Kuenssberg (@bbclaurak) April 5, 2020

There is a designated First Minister of State who will take over if the PM is incapacitated. That's Dominic Raab! 

Thanks HH.

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Not surprised at all tbh. Don't like to see anyone have to leave their job but after twice breaking one of the rules that she herself helped to put in place as CMO for Scotland, her position was untenable. 

 

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Apparently she tendered her resignation earlier today, it was not accepted at that time and she was pushed out to do the press conference. Imagine she was wanting a trap door to open under her podium! 

Spain

5,478 new cases and 694 new deaths

3rd day in a row new cases and deaths have fallen

My brother in the States, has had the virus badly, not as badly as those many who have lost the ultimate battle. He had a fever of between 102 - 104 for 14 days...along with a continuing dreadful cough and total loss of smell, taste and nausea. In our various WhatsApp conversations on slightly better days, he tried to put into words how unbelievably awful he has felt... it is hard to see how Boris could effectively be running the country whilst battling this terrible virus...Of course I wish him well...but from what little I have gleaned about the illness, for those who get it badly, there is no quick bouncing back to full health...a long bumpy road to travel...surely Boris should be stepping down even if just of a month or so....and I say that knowing it would mean Raab as our stand in PM!

Bet the papers have had to rush and change their front page headline for tomorrow's editions. We knew he wasn't well, but the timing of his admission to hospital sure took the country by surprise.

I can only assume that the PM's condition has got worse since he issued his video update on Friday. As others have said, he sure didn't look that great a couple of days ago and looked to me to be some way from getting over it.

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Apparently there now rumours that Boris is on ventilator support.

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That brings him down to 50:50 odds on not dying.

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Only the USA have reported more new cases than the UK today

These rumours seem to come from Russia though...

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Reports from the New York Times that a tiger has tested positive for coronavirus and other lions and tigers are showing signs of respiratory illness.

Edit: BBC now too

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-52177586

 

 

Has anyone heard any info about Chris Whitty? He got ill at about the same time as Johnson? Didn't Dominic Cummings also test positive a few days later?

Would that be the rumours that started in Russia then were picked up by Australian and Slovenian press?

I wouldn't dismiss reports BJ being on non invasive ventilator support.

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An interesting article. I don’t suffer from anxiety or depression, as far as I know, but I do have the same feeling of a great weight having been lifted in recent weeks. The ability to focus on the small bubble around me and my family instead of the constant daily grind. I’ve also stopped following the news and the daily statistics because frankly I can’t do anything about it so why bother?

https://www.thedailybeast.com/coronavirus-is-making-a-lot-of-people-anxious-and-depressed-but-some-sufferers-actually-feel-better-now 

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Yes, you're right and there may be absolutely no substance to them. That said, he's had the virus for 10 days and he's been admitted to hospital, so even if untrue or unsubstantiated, they're not implausible. 

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Being admitted on a Sunday night at 9pm in a hospital where you would not go anywhere near at the moment unless you are in desperate trouble?

Boris was admitted early in the evening it was only announced shortly after 9pm

The BBCs Huw Edwards has also had Covid and was in hospital with pneumonia.

He's made a full recovery and will be back at the beeb this week

Yes, I assume that a hospital admission is the last thing that his advisers would have wanted so it must be necessary. I think that Q called it well earlier when he said that Boris was in the category of 20% of people who suffer severe consequences. Q said that he had a 3/4 chance of survival. Unfortunately, I suspect that it's as bad as that for Boris. 

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