UK: Prime Minister Boris Johnson positive for new coronavirus

This file photo shows Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson. (Pool photo by CHRISTOPHER FURLONG via AP FILE)

LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has tested positive for the new coronavirus but remains in charge of the United Kingdom’s response to the outbreak.

Johnson said Friday that he was tested for COVID-19 on the advice of the chief medical officer after showing “mild symptoms” involving fever and a persistent cough.

“I’ve taken a test, that’s come out positive so I am working from home, I am self-isolating, and that’s entirely the right thing to do,” he said in a video message posted on his Twitter account.

“But be in no doubt that I can continue, thanks to the wizardry of modern technology, to communicate with all my top team to lead the national fightback against coronavirus.”

The government said that if Johnson is unable to work, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab will replace him.

Johnson has met in person with some senior ministers and officials this week and has appeared at press conferences alongside his top medical and scientific advisers.

Earlier this week Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, announced that he had tested positive for the virus.

COVID-19 is a respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus or SARS-CoV-2, which first emerged in China’s Wuhan City in Hubei province in late 2019.

The World Health Organization has declared COVID-19 a pandemic since it already infected more than 532,700 people worldwide and killed more than 24,050 as of March 27. On the other hand, over 124,375 people have recovered so far from the disease.