Boris Johnson reveals doctors prepared to announce his death during coronavirus battle
BORIS JOHNSON has revealed how doctors prepared to announce his death as he battled coronavirus.
Boris Johnson hosts first briefing since returning to work
Commenting on his battle with COVID-19, Mr Johnson revealed doctors were feeding him "litres and litres of oxygen" to keep him alive. Although Mr Johnson returned to No 10 this week, the Prime Minister revealed he was in a critical condition. He told The Sun on Sunday: "It was a tough old moment, I won’t deny it. They had a strategy to deal with a ‘death of Stalin’-type scenario.
"I was not in particularly brilliant shape and I was aware there were contingency plans in place."
Mr Johnson revealed at one point doctors were considering putting a tube down his throat.
It was at this moment he believes doctors started to think about how to handle a potential death.
As he was rushed to intensive care Mr Johnson asked himself “how am I going to get out of this?”
He would spend three nights in intensive care and a week in hospital before he was discharged.
Just over two weeks from his release from hospital, Mr Johnson’s fiance Carrie Symonds gave birth to a son.
The child has been named Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas Johnson, partly in homage to Dr Nick Price and Dr Nick Hart, who cared for the PM whilst he was recovering.
Mr Johnson revealed he was initially reluctant to go to hospital and even when he was in intensive care, refused to countenance the idea the virus could kill him.
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He said he had a “terrible buoyancy” within that convinced him he would ultimately recover.
On his ordeal in intensive care, Mr Johnson said: “The doctors had all sorts of arrangements for what to do if things went badly wrong.
“They gave me a face mask so I got litres and litres of oxygen and for a long time I had that and the little nose jobbie.”
He added "the bloody indicators kept going in the wrong direction”, when he was being wired to monitors.
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Mr Johnson also spoke about how rapidly his health deteriorated commenting: “It was hard to believe that in just a few days my health had deteriorated to this extent. I remember feeling frustrated. I couldn’t understand why I wasn’t getting better.”
Mr Johnson got emotional as he discussed the birth of his son stating: “It was thanks to some wonderful, wonderful nursing that I made it. They really did it and they made a huge difference.
“I can’t explain how it happened. I don’t know - it was just wonderful to see.
“I get emotional about it . . . but it was an extraordinary thing.”
Mr Johnson admitted he may have understated the severity of the matter when he was first diagnosed: “The thing was, I was in denial because I was working and I kept doing these meetings by video link.
“But I was really feeling pretty groggy, to be totally honest with you. I was feeling pretty wasted — not in an intoxicated way, but just, you know, pretty rough.”
Mr Johnson warned: “Have you had this thing? Well, don’t get it. You don’t want it. I wasn’t struggling to breathe but I just wasn’t in good shape and it wasn’t getting better.”
This week has seen another Prime Minister test positive for coronavirus - Russia’s Mikhail Mishustin.
He revealed his diagnosis to President Vladimir Putin in a video meeting and Andrey Belousov, the First Deputy Prime Minister will take over Mr Mishustin’s duties as he recovers.
Additional reporting by Bill McLoughlin.