Coronavirus: British PM Boris Johnson and Health Secretary Matt Hancock test positive for Covid-19

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has become the world’s first major leader to contract the novel coronavirus and there are concerns he may have infected other key figures in the nation’s fight against the epidemic.

An hour after Johnson made his health status public, the Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced that he too had tested positive for Covid-19.

Johnson, 55, announced his health status via a video on social media.

“I want to bring you up to speed on something that’s happening today, which is that I’ve developed mild symptoms of the coronavirus,” Johnson said. “That’s to say – a temperature and a persistent cough. And, on the advice of the chief medical officer, I’ve taken a test. That has come out positive.”

Hancock said he too had only mild symptoms.

“I’ve tested positive. Thankfully my symptoms are mild and I’m working from home and self-isolating,” he tweeted. Hancock had been expected to appear at the daily government press briefing this evening.

The prime minister is now self-isolating at his flat at 11 Downing Street , and his meals are being left outside the door, according to the BBC’s political correspondent Laura Kuenssberg.

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Johnson’s coronavirus status follows the news that Prince Charles, 71, heir to the throne, also has Covid-19 and is self-isolating at Balmoral in Scotland.

So far, 14,579 people in Britain to have been diagnosed with coronavirus. As of Thursday, the country had recorded 759 deaths.

The country has been ramping up its medical defences and is building a 4,000-bed temporary hospital in the ExCel conference centre in East London, as it prepares for an expected tsunami of cases over the coming weeks.

A major concern is that Johnson will have acted as a super-spreader among those leading the country’s fight against the virus. Buckingham Palace said the last time Johnson had met Queen Elizabeth was on March 11.

He has met the chief medical officer, Chris Whitty, frequently in recent days and in his last appearance in parliament for his weekly question time, Johnson sat close to Leader of the House Jacob Rees-Mogg and Home Secretary Priti Patel.

Whitty said on Twitter on Friday that he was self-isolating at home for seven days after “experiencing symptoms compatible with Covid-19 last night”. He added that he would continue to advise the government on the medical response to the outbreak.

Johnson was filmed on Thursday evening on the steps of Downing Street next to the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak as they joined in nationwide applause for national health service staff.

The government said Sunak was not self-isolating because he had kept a strict two-metre distance from the prime minister at all times and did not have any symptoms.

Johnson’s pregnant fiancée, Carrie Symonds, is thought to be isolating in the couple’s London home. “The prime minister of course follows all of the guidelines issued by Public Health England,” a Downing Street spokesperson told the BBC.

The prime minister’s spokesperson told Sky News he was “not aware” of further testing of people like the chancellor and chief medical officer.

The Houses of Parliament went into recess on Wednesday evening due to the virus, which has already infected a health minister, Nadine Dorries, and there are particular concerns for the House of Lords, the UK’s unelected upper parliamentary chamber, where the average age is 70. Some MPs have criticised the recess, calling for virtual methods to be devised for parliament to meet, given the nature of the emergency legislation being passed.

Some of Britain’s best-known political journalists have also come into contact with Johnson in recent days, such as at the daily press briefings that were carried out live at Westminster until last weekend.

Johnson said through the “wizard of technology” he would continue to run the country. He reportedly presided over a virtual meeting of the emergency Cobra committee on Friday morning, shortly before his announcement.

Should the prime minister’s condition deteriorate, the next in line to take charge is Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is also First Secretary of State. Johnson opted not to have a deputy prime minister so is permitted to pick any cabinet minister he wishes to take charge in his absence.

However, having recently announced Raab would take the helm should anything happen to him, Johnson is likely to stay with Raab for the time being.

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Jeremy Corbyn, 70, head of the opposition Labour Party, wished Johnson well.

“I wish the prime minister a speedy recovery and hope his family are safe and healthy,” he tweeted. “Coronavirus can and does affect anyone. Everyone be safe. Our own health depends on everybody else.”

Johnson’s government has been criticised for not implementing social distancing measures earlier. As recently as March 3 Johnson had been promoting the practice of shaking hands.

“I was at a hospital the other night with a few coronavirus patients and I shook hands with everybody,” he said, following a visit to a hospital in the English county of Northamptonshire.