Culture secretary Oliver Dowden told the BBC on Thursday morning that there had been no change in prime minister Boris Johnson’s condition after a third night in intensive care at St. Thomas’ Hospital in London.
At Wednesday evening’s daily coronavirus briefing from Downing Street, chancellor Rishi Sunak revealed that Johnson had been “sitting up in bed and engaging positively with the clinical team”.
Speaking on BBC Breakfast on Thursday morning, Dowden added that Johnson is continuing his recovery and that there had been no changes to his condition.
Dowden said: “He [the prime minister] is stable, improving, sat up and engaged with medical staff”.
The latest statement from Downing Street issued on Wednesday acknowledged that Johnson remained in an intensive care unit but that he was “continuing to make steady progress”.
Johnson was first taken to hospital for tests on Sunday via a private car after his symptom of a high temperature had persisted. He was transferred to intensive care on Monday as a precautionary measure.
According to The Telegraph, Johnson had continued to run the country from self-isolation in Downing Street in spite of his symptoms.
While Johnson remains in intensive care, foreign secretary Dominic Raab is at the head of the UK’s Covid-19 response.