British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is self-isolating after coming into contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.
Johnson, who was admitted to hospital with the novel coronavirus earlier this year, is well and does not have any symptoms of COVID-19, a spokesman for the prime minister said.
“He will carry on working from Downing Street, including on leading the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic,” the spokesman said. “The prime minister will follow the rules and is self-isolating.”
Johnson met a group of lawmakers in Downing Street on Thursday that included Lee Anderson, a Conservative Party member who subsequently developed COVID-19 symptoms and has tested positive.
He was notified by the National Health Service’s Test and Trace system on Sunday and told he should self-isolate because of factors including the length of the meeting.
Officials said they will discuss with parliamentary authorities how Johnson can take part remotely in Parliament’s business. He plans to “continue speaking to the country during his self-isolation period,” they added.
The statement didn’t say how long Johnson planned to isolate, but UK health authorities’ guidance is that anyone contacted by Test and Trace should quarantine for 14 days.
In April, Johnson was hospitalised in intensive care for three nights after contracting COVID-19. After he was discharged, he thanks health workers for saving his life and said for 48 hours during his hospital stay “things could have gone either way.”
His partner Carrie Symonds, who was pregnant at the time, also experienced symptoms and had to self-isolate.
The prime minister later said he wanted to build up his fitness, and in the summer he launched a national campaign to tackle obesity after acknowledging that he was “too fat” when he fell ill.
