Reveals Johnson; govt to reveal way out of lockdown

Agencies
The British government had a contingency plan for Prime Minister Boris Johnson's death as he battled COVID-19 in intensive care last month, he said in an interview with The Sun newspaper.

The revelation came as reports said the British government is expected to unveil plans to ease the country out of lockdown this week, amid indications of a phased approach to keep infection rates low.

Johnson has said the country was "past the peak" of the outbreak and will outline a "roadmap" for lifting stringent measures imposed in late March.

According to the latest figures, 28,205 have died in Britain, just short of Europe's worst-hit country, Italy. But hospital admissions and infection rates are down.

Asked about the government's plan, as ministers review the lockdown on Thursday, transport minister Grant Shapps said: "It's definitely not going to be business as usual."

Weekend newspaper reports said primary schools could reopen in early June and that commuters taking public transport could face temperature checks. A quarantine period for people travelling to Britain by air has also been suggested.

Johnson, 55, returned to work on Monday, a month after testing positive for COVID-19. He spent 10 days in isolation in Downing Street before he was taken to London's St Thomas' Hospital where he spent three nights in intensive care.

"They had a strategy to deal with a 'death of Stalin'-type scenario," Johnson was quoted as saying in Sunday's edition of The Sun. "It was a tough old moment, I won't deny it."

Johnson said that during the period when he was self-isolating in Downing Street, he had resisted going to hospital.

Johnson was admitted to a ward on April 5 and given oxygen via a face mask and a tube in his nose. He was moved to intensive care on April 6.

At one point, doctors discussed invasive ventilation.

"The bad moment came when it was 50-50 whether they were going to have to put a tube down my windpipe," he said. "That was when it got a bit  . . .  they were starting to think about how to handle it presentationally."

"The doctors had all sorts of arrangements for what to do if things went badly wrong ... The bloody indicators kept going in the wrong direction."