British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was shifted out of the intensive care unit (ICU) of a London hospital, has been able to take short walks between periods of rest during the early stages of his recovery after testing positive for coronavirus, Downing Street said on Friday.
Johnson, 55, after having spoken to doctors about his progress, is thankful for the "incredible care" he has been receiving at St. Thomas' Hospital, his office said.
"The Prime Minister has been able to do short walks, between periods of rest, as part of the care he is receiving to aid his recovery," a Downing Street spokesperson said in an update from the hospital.
"He has spoken to his doctors and thanks the whole clinical team for the incredible care he has received. His thoughts are with those affected by this terrible disease," the spokesperson said.
Downing Street earlier confirmed that Johnson was back on a ward at the hospital, where he continues to be in "very good spirits".
Earlier on Friday, Johnson's father Stanley Johnson said the whole family was "tremendously grateful" that the Prime Minister had been moved out of the ICU, adding that he thinks his son's illness has "got the whole country to realise this is a serious event".
"He must rest up He took one for the team and we've got to make sure we play properly now," he told the BBC.
He warned that his son cannot get straight back to Downing Street and pick up the reins.
Boris Johnson's pregnant fiance, Carrie Symonds, took to Twitter to express her relief with a series of clapping hands emoticons alongside a picture of a rainbow, which has emerged as the symbol of support for the country's National Health Service (NHS) through the course of the pandemic fightback.
The 32-year-old, who has been self-isolating with the couple's dog Dilyn, had revealed her own symptoms of coronavirus last week but said she was on the mend.
According to latest UK Department of Health figures, the number of people to have died in hospital in the UK after testing positive for the novel coronavirus has risen to 7,978.
The whole country has been practicing a stringent form of social distancing for three weeks now. Precisely because we're doing everything we can to minimise the bleak numbers that I just read out, said UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab during the daily Downing Street briefing on Thursday as he deputises for the UK prime minister while he is in hospital.
Now, as we look forward to the long Bank Holiday Easter weekend, I know some people are going to start wondering is it time to ease up on the rules. So I've got to say thank you for your sacrifice. But, also, we're not done yet. We must keep going, he said.
While the initial 21-day semi-lockdown announced by Boris Johnson on March 23 comes to a close towards next Monday, all indications are that it would have to be further extended to continue to keep the numbers afflicted by the deadly virus manageable for the NHS to treat.
"We mustn't give the coronavirus a second chance to kill more people and to hurt our country," said Raab, as he urged people to continue to stay at home and leave only for restricted purposes of essential shopping and one form of exercise a day.
Meanwhile, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that the UK has recorded 980 deaths from COVID-19 in the 24-hour period, taking the total number of fatalities to nearly 8,000, while the number of confirmed cases climbed to more than 65,000.
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