Boris Johnson To Return To Work Tomorrow After Recovering From Coronavirus
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Prime Minister Boris Johnson will return to work on Monday, according to his deputy Dominic Raab.
Johnson has been out of work for more than three weeks after needing hospital treatment due to the worsening of symptoms of coronavirus.
Raab said that the Prime Minister's return to the helm of his government will be a 'boost to the country' and that Johnson is 'raring to go' after spending time at Chequers to recuperate after his illness.
As well as his two weeks of recovery time at his second residence in Buckinghamshire, he also spent a week in St Thomas' Hospital, which included three nights in intensive care.
During his hospitalisation, he received oxygen treatment to help his breathing, and has not taken part in any official government work during his convalescence, following medical advice.
However, last week he did have a phone call with the Queen and US President Donald Trump, as well as meeting senior ministers such as Raab and Chancellor Rishi Sunak to discuss the next steps of the UK's response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Raab told Andrew Marr that the PM's return would be 'boost for the government and a boost for the country'.
The Foreign Secretary has been in temporary charge of the government while Johnson has been incapacitated, and said that questions about whether he'd enjoyed his brief role 'did not do justice' to the job he'd been asked to do, and added that his thoughts had constantly been with the PM and his family 'particularly when we knew it was touch and go'.
Meanwhile, the UK's hospital death toll as a result of coronavirus passed the 20,000 mark yesterday.
These deaths do not include deaths in the community and in care homes, so the true figure is almost certainly significantly higher than that.
Raab told Marr that this was a 'grim milestone' but defended the Conservative government's methods of dealing with it, adding that if difficult decisions hadn't been taken at the right time, then more people would have died.
Politicians from opposition parties have wished Johnson well on his return to work, but added that more detail should be given to the public about potential easing of the lockdown that Britain is in right now.
Labour's Rachel Reeves told Marr that the UK should 'potentially' be looking into how Belgium, Denmark and Germany have already signalled that they intend to re-open some businesses and schools.
She said: "We want to work with the government in bringing forward a plan and getting it right."
Featured Image Credit: PA
Topics: World News, uk news
