Like Boris Johnson, Winston Churchill had periods of serious ill health during his premiership, including recurrent bouts of pneumonia during the war, several of them serious
Coronavirus has been described as this generation’s ‘war’. But just like in the Second World War the Government seemed initially to be ill-prepared for the fight.
One area that has been thrust into stark relief this week is the health of the Prime Minister, as the nation continues to reel from Boris Johnson being admitted to intensive care.
Like Boris Johnson, Winston Churchill had periods of serious ill health during his premiership, including recurrent bouts of pneumonia during the war, several of them serious.
And like the PM he was an energetic risk-taker – he watched the Blitz from the rooftops of London – who did not like listening to doctors very much.
But while Churchill had his own personal physician who travelled with him on his many journeys during the conflict – and even had six medics flown from Egypt to Tunisia when he became ill in North Africa in 1943 – Mr Johnson and his team appear to have taken a far more relaxed view until serious measures like hospitalisation had to be taken.
Mr Johnson was today ‘stable’ after a second night in intensive care, with his fever said to have dipped as he remains under constant observation at St Thomas’ in central London.
However, there are fears that even the best outcome from his coronavirus struggle will see him out of action for weeks, with experts warning he could need a ‘phased return’ to work.
It has led to questions over whether there were mis-steps made along the way in ensuring the Prime Minister and his top team remained healthy so they can lead the country out of lockdown and beyond.
A lack of social distancing?
One area of concern is the slow take-up of social distancing measures within Downing Street.
Boris Johnson announced a clampdown on mass gatherings on March 16 and the following day flanked Chancellor Rishi Sunak to announce social-distancing measures that included keeping two metres apart from people.
But No 10 was slow to adopt these measures. Downing Street insiders told the Times today of meetings of dozens of people, including the Prime Minister present, where people were openly coughing and sitting close to each other.
Patient Zero and the Cobra Cluster
On March 17 top Imperial College epidemiologist Professor Neil Ferguson is understood to have visited Downing Street to brief top officials.
Professor Neil Ferguson is believed to have visited Downing Street the day before self-isolating with suspected coronavirus
The following day he confirmed via Twitter that he was self-isolating at home with coronavirus symptoms.
Although it is impossible to confirm, this will fuel suggestions that he could be the ‘patient zero’ who brought the illness into Downing Street.
Cobra met on March 18, bringing the Prime Minister in to close contact with Matt Hancock, who confirmed he had coronavirus on March 27, the same day as the PM.
Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty, who was also forced to self-isolated with symptoms, was also present.
Press conferences fronted by the prime minister and other ministers between March 17 (top), when social distancing guidance was issued by the PM, and March 24 (bottom), when the press conferences finally began to adhere to that guidance
Top Adviser Dominic Cummings, who remains absent from Downing Street after self-isolating, is also likely to have been present.
Others said to have been self-isolating include Lee Cain, Mr Johnson’s director of communications, and Andrew Parsons, his personal photographer, both of whom have close access to the PM.
And yet they continued to ignore distancing rules. Mr Johnson and Rishi Sunak stood close together at public news conferences for days afterwards.
It was not until March 24 that the trio of podiums were spaced out further to adhere to the Government’s own rules.
The same day Mr Johnson chaired his Cabinet semi-remotely, with many ministers dialling in. But he was joined in No 10 by Matt Hancock and Prof Whitty, who would both later fall ill.
Boris working on through the illness
There are also concerns about the PM’s care while he was in isolation, amid suggestions he was not physically monitored and only consulted a doctor by video link when his condition deteriorated after a week or so.
Mr Johnson is said to view illness as a weakness and after his diagnosis indicated publicly that he intended to work though what were at the time said to be ‘minor symptoms.
This is despite many reports of people suffering from the virus – even if not hospitalised – not being able to raise themselves from their sickbed.
Thus he shut himself away in a suite of rooms in 11 Downing Street, where he lives, and continued to chair meetings via videolink and work on official business.
Covid-19 patients who rush back to work could find themselves so exhausted they need to take further time off, a respiratory consultant said today.
Dr Jon Bennett, respiratory consultant at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester and chairman of the British Thoracic Society, said it can take several weeks to recover from coronavirus even after the major symptoms disappear.
The medic, who has treated around 60 to 70 patients with Covid-19, said that many factors affect recovery, including a patient’s age, underlying health conditions and the severity of their illness.
Dr Bennett is himself still recovering from coronavirus, after suffering sleepless nights with muscle pain, a headache and mild cough.
He said many patients needing oxygen for Covid-19 had evidence of pneumonia, which can have long-lasting effects.
“With pneumonia, the bug comes, the body fights off the virus and (that) may last a few days, but the lungs get filled up with shall we say bruising and it can take several weeks for the lungs to sort that out.
“For some people, the symptoms can take several weeks to settle.
“People suffer fatigue and lethargy and it can take six weeks to recover from it.’
Finally, Boris consults a doctor (but only via Zoom)
During his week in self-isolation, Mr Johnson continued to weet to the public and came to the door to join the weekly clapping for the NHS, perhaps keen to show that he was able to bear the symptoms and carry on while following the rules to self-isolate.
But by the end of his planned week of quarantine there were signs it was not going to plan. Last Thursday it was revealed by Downing Street that he still had a high temperature.
Because of this he would not be breaking his self-isolation as planned on Friday.
However, at this stage his symptoms were still described as ‘minor’ and he continued to work.
It may be that he wanted to follow the same path as was being advised to the public. He was leading by example, self-isolating for seven days, waiting for his symptoms to go away and avoiding infecting others.
His pregnant fiancee Carrie Symonds went to live at the couple’s home in south London, although she too would later self-quarantine with
It was not until a marked deterioration on Sunday, after ministers were shocked at his appearance in a Zoom conference, that he had a video conference with his GP who advised him to go to St Thomas’ Hospital, across the river from Parliament.
Boris Johnson remains in St Thomas’s Hospital in central London, where he is said to be responding well to treatment
Why was he left to his own devices?
Tory MPs are calling for a review of the premier’s medical arrangements, saying the lack of protection has been ‘exposed’ by the latest crisis.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has been ‘deputised’ to fill in for the PM, but the potential issues caused by Mr Johnson’s absence have been underlined as the crucial review of lockdown measures was postponed.
The UK leader has starkly different arrangements for their health support than in the US, where the president has a dedicated medical team and emergency facilities constantly on standby.
Conservative PM Marcus Fysh told MailOnline the situation was partly an historical anomaly due to the different political systems.
‘We’ve got a constitutional monarchy so the monarch is the head of state and has all of that. In America the President is head of state, so that is probably why it has come through in this way. But it is worth considering whether there should in future be special measures for health within the No10 operation.
‘I had the privilege of visiting the White House a couple of years ago… all his food is cooked by the US Navy.
‘He has got a special water system that is protected and separate from the rest of the public system. It is very well organised.
‘They are prepared for every eventuality there in a way I guess has been exposed that we need to think about a bit more.’
‘It is worth keeping these things under review because we need to protect our decision makers.’
How presidents are given special medical care
Many in America were stunned to discover that Boris Johnson was being treated in an NHS hospital, and was simply a patient like any other – albeit with increased security.
Donald Trump, as US president, receives significantly closer attention from medics. The White House has its own medical unit, a division of the military, which is staffed by several military physicians and nurses. They have the responsibility of advising, medically speaking, on the ability of the president to discharge his duties. They provide free healthcare to the president and his family.
The unit has around 22 staff.
The unit includes emergency medical and trauma facilities at the White House, described as an urgent care centre with a crash cart.