this is bbc news. the headlines. britain's prime minister has moved to intensive care ten days after testing positive for coronavirus. the coronavirus has killed more than 10,000 people in america, as officials warn this could be the hardest week yet. but there is hope the outbreak in spain might have peaked. as the number of people who died falls for the fourth day in a row. good evening. and welcome to our continuing coverage of the prime minister's borisjohnson continuing coverage of the prime minister's boris johnson admission into intensive care tonight with coronavirus. dominic raab is deputizing for him as necessary, since downing street, and says the government remains focused on the fight against covid—10. well, we can get more now i'm what being admitted to intensive and critical care actually means, we can speak now to doctor and consultant and at university college london. doctor,

thank you so much forjoining us. when a covid—10 patient comes into intensive care, talk us through what you would do as an anaesthetist? so, different patients come in with different patients come in with different symptoms, what people know about mainly is whether they need a ventilator, and their lungs need support with their breathing, so they are induced into a coma, but many people come into intensive care with coalbed, who need support with their breathing, but they are conscious, so it's a special mask thatis conscious, so it's a special mask that is put on their face —— covid—10. that helps them with the work of breathing, when they are especially tiring, because covid—10 causes such as especially tiring, because covid—10 causes such as severe especially tiring, because covid—10 causes such as severe viral pneumonia, as you know. you may not wish to talk about the prime minister's case, given that you are not his physician, but from what you have seen, the reports that you have seen, how typical is the progression of the illness been in him?” seen, how typical is the progression of the illness been in him? i mean, i wish boris johnson of the illness been in him? i mean, i wish borisjohnson the absolute

best, i can only speak from i wish borisjohnson the absolute best, i can only speakfrom my experience and what i've heard in terms of what's going on in the news, it's all speculative at the moment as far as i'm aware, but patients admitted to intensive care you know, as i said, they require oxygen come sometimes they require a bit more support with a special facemask, or they require a full—blown coma with a ventilator, a breathing machine to help them with their breathing. and we don't know, i don't know specifically not being his physician, or looking after him, what it is that he is requiring right now. as far as i'm aware, it's just a precautionary measure at the moment. you can be in intensive care using as a precaution, that is right. yes, well, there are certain to patients that, you know, aren't particularly suitable for the word, because they might need more nursing ca re because they might need more nursing care than the word may provide, sometimes we do admit patients to

intensive care for more closer observation, so if they did deteriorates, the rate people are around. to act swiftly to support these patients, and in my experience, when patients do to deteriorates with covid—10, they deteriorates with covid—10, they deteriorate quite rapidly, so being in that right environment is the best thing, and is what would happen to any one who may need it.|j imagine you are learning about the virus every day, and every week as this goes by, what are the sum of the things you still really need to know in order to help you treat patient. it's a new virus, it's been around since the beginning of the year. we are still learning about how it's behaving, from my experience, working at ucla in cha rlston experience, working at ucla in charlston and london, we can see that it affects any age group, it previously, we were quite naive in thinking itjust previously, we were quite naive in thinking it just affected previously, we were quite naive in thinking itjust affected the elderly, but it can affect any age group. you might be fit and well or

have multiple medical problems, we are learning as we go along. i think the next few weeks will be quite important in terms of the virus revealing itself in terms of what we can do for us, but the treatment of supportive, we can support you with oxygen, with fluids we saw today of on the news especially from a hospital sharing how we put patients on theirfront if hospital sharing how we put patients on their front if they are in breathing machines. we arejust learning as we will go a long. thank you so much forjoining us. thank you. with us now is mattox, the director for the institute of government. we talked about health that they are with the doctor. we will talk about the structure of politics with you. dominic raab said ina politics with you. dominic raab said in a statement he will deputize for the prime minister when necessary. what would when necessary actually mean? well, i think it means when taking key decisions when the prime minister is not in a position to take. we don't know how well the

prime minister is, and obviously, everyone wants to him to pull through as quickly as possible. i think it's a careful ambiguity if you like them it's not handing over absolutely every bit of power and saying the prime minister is completely incapacitated, but it is clearly delegating a great area of responsibility to him. it's useful ambiguity it if you like. at one point —— i.i would make, what some of the big decisions are taken by borisjohnson. this is happening at a point that borisjohnson borisjohnson. this is happening at a point that boris johnson was able to make the decision about the lockdown and explained to the country why they should stay at home, and then was able to endorse a giant economic bailout that the chancellor put together, had his deputy, if you like to try to make those decisions right now, it would've been a much more difficult place, but there is still lots and lots of smaller decisions to be making over the next week about how to keep getting on. dominic raab if

he has all the positions if he needs, if there is a moment of even greater national crisis, which requires an instant decision, would dominic raab have the authority to ta ke dominic raab have the authority to take that decision. the uk government is governed by the cabinets come in the per minister is technically first among equals within the cabinets. the cabinets would be taking those decisions. dominic raab is obviously the authority delegated by the prime minister, and the cabinets would have to come to a collective decision on that. he would have to persuade them. and it's really a matter for the cabinets of whether he could have his say over all of it. -- he could have his say over all of it. —— cabinet. nowi he could have his say over all of it. —— cabinet. now i think in some of the circumstances, the cabinet would pull together on these things. the he is not a president, the per minister is not a president. so it's not as if dominic raab can go in and unilaterally make all kinds of decisions of his own back. unilaterally make all kinds of decisions of his own backlj unilaterally make all kinds of decisions of his own back. i wonder if you can think back into british

history, has there ever been a time when there has been a prime minister who has been seriously unwell, and a stand—in prime minister, and a sharing of duties between the two? well, it's the sharing that is the difficult point to get at. there have been moments in british history, and people are talking about quite a bit about in 1963, felt he was very unwell. actually, i think there is some evidence that he knew that the cancer he was being operated on was in fact benign. but choseit operated on was in fact benign. but chose it as a moment to stand down and hand over. partly because it was so and hand over. partly because it was so unclear where the power should flow to, the conservative party developed rules of succession, if you like him after that. the sharing of power, well, it happens in everyday ways, in essence , happens in everyday ways, in essence, the per minister goes on holiday. you know... has to be a way or something, he can delegate the

power to take prime minister as questions, or even to do some other smaller things, but it's unusual to delegate the day—to—day running of the government entirely to someone else. we have seen tonight downing street has said that the queen is being consulted. is there a constitutional role for the queen to play in this? well, she recognises who the prime minister is, and if there is any suggestion of needing, you know, if borisjohnson was going to be incapacitated for some time, there would be discussions about how to... you know, whether it... the conservative party in the cabinet —— cabinet ought to talk about another minister, but it's a bit early to get it —— early to get into that kind of discussion. thank you so much for your analysis. it's time for a look at the front pages now,

with mayor lucy fisher, defence editorfor with mayor lucy fisher, defence editor for the with mayor lucy fisher, defence editorfor the times with mayor lucy fisher, defence editor for the times newspaper, with mayor lucy fisher, defence editorfor the times newspaper, and broadcaster henry bronson. tomorrow's front pages starting with the same story, of course, the news broke earlier this evening in the metro says that the prime minister is in intensive care unit following his battle with the coronavirus. the mirror describes the per minister is sick boris, who faces the fight for his life. the express reports that borisjohnson was moved to intensive care as his health worsens. the financial times describes the prime minister's persistent systems and —— symptoms and says he remains conscious i said in an intensive care unit at saint thomas hospital in london. the daily mail says that mrjohnson is struggling to breathe, and says his partner carrie simons is in agony as she is unable to see him. the ice is the foreign secretary, dominic raab is now in charge of the government, and claims that ministers had urged the pm to hand over the reins and rest. the guardian also leads on mr rob taking control him as the title exceeds

5000 in britain. so, let's begin with our guests will stop lucy on the left, henry on the right. hello to you both. 0bviously, only one story dominating all the papers. we started with the daily telegraph, johnson in intensive care, and the main picture there is a boris johnson when he was last seen in public on friday, when he gave one of his video statements that led some people to worry about his health. lucy fisher from the times friday seems like ten years ago. well, that's absolutely right. although, even then, borisjohnson looked pretty rough from that homely shot a video on his mobile phone. of course, what we know about covid—10 is that symptoms can worsen very quickly. we know that earlier today, he posted a message on twitter saying that he was in good spirits, but that his symptoms were worsening at around seven p:m., and that he was then of course moved to intensive care. what number ten is

playing it's a precautionary measure, in case he needs to use a ventilator. henry, your thoughts on the telegraph‘s front page? ventilator. henry, your thoughts on the telegraph's front page? it's actually very helpful, because it gives a sort of significant context. he's got the headline, but it's also got the picture. which we could all see got the picture. which we could all see showed a prime minister who was battling, as lucy said, and remember, there had been a number of prime minister prime ministerial statements and tweets which he had tried to present himself who was summit on top of this illness, somebody who was battling and would soon somebody who was battling and would soon be back to full strength. but when you look at the actual story, it gives you the timeline. it tells you that he was admitted at 7pm tonight to the nicu, he tells you about dominic raab's role, and that he would deputize come in quotes "where necessary open... " a relu cta nce "where necessary open... " a reluctance by number ten that the prime minister wasn't in control, and when you think about the past 10-11 and when you think about the past 10—11 days, numberten

and when you think about the past 10—11 days, number ten has been struggling to maintain this impression that the prime minister was not really that ill. it's been abundantly clear that he's far more ill than they want to admit. henry, that's an interesting point. i was porting yesterday when downing street said there was a persistence of symptoms. lucy, might everyone, including these newspapers start looking again at the messages downing street was sending out, particularly yesterday, and wondering now in the light of the intensive care admission, whether those statements perhaps didn't tell the whole story. i think that's right. not least dominic raab, who is of course deputizing for him as foreign secretary and for secretary of state, admitting that he hasn't actually seen boris johnson of state, admitting that he hasn't actually seen borisjohnson in person since saturday. i think that it's often difficult with health matters, which in one sense are an inherently private matter, of course, with the public figure, and arguably the most important decision maker in this crisis of the epidemic

that has swept the country and indeed the world, we do need to be kept abreast of boris johnson's health developments since they become so grave, and i thank you are right, there will be questions asked about whether downing street was being as frank as it possibly could be, but i'm also glad to see tonight that all sides here, whether it's boris johnson's that all sides here, whether it's borisjohnson‘s colleagues, his political rivals, members of the public, everyone is wishing him well, and really, it feels like the national sentiment here is urging him onto a swift recovery. we will look at the financial times now. johnson moved to intensive care, as persistent symptoms, downing street sprays, super system —— persistent symptoms, boris johnson in sprays, super system —— persistent symptoms, borisjohnson in full flow during one of those many briefings he gave. henry, we are use to having one prime minister, it's almost the most simple thing you learn is get to the prime minister is, now we have a prime minister who is in intensive care, and another politician who is able to deputize

where necessary, might that lead to some confusion in the coming hours, 01’ some confusion in the coming hours, or potentially days? well, it might do. not least because people aren't really fully abreast of what, you know, what maddox was saying. we don't have a presidential system with all power is vested in the per minister. he is first among equals, so minister. he is first among equals, so he can nominate whether he thinks —— whoever so he can nominate whether he thinks — — whoever he so he can nominate whether he thinks —— whoever he thinks should take his place if he is incapacitated, i mean, a lot of people feel that the country has been a little bit reckless over the past ten or so days, because the prime minister hasn't been there from —— fronting these press conferences, but a whole series of people, some of the medical and scientific experts and others, cabinet ministers who have struggled a little bit with the messaging on this, not least the health secretary himself, when talking about intensive care beds, when talking about capacity, isolation, tracing, when we are going to have this lockdown. there

are a numberof going to have this lockdown. there are a number of decisions that have to be made about a very very serious issues, not least when we can start talking about the winding down of this lockdown, what about the death rates in this country? why are they so rates in this country? why are they so much higher than germany and korea? there so much higher than germany and korea ? there are so much higher than germany and korea? there are a number of questions that are disturbing, and people want to see real leadership on them, and the big question is whether dominic raab who looked rather shell—shocked last night in that interview, whether he can step up that interview, whether he can step up and lead and get the support of the cabinet. henry, very interesting. i want to quickly go back, lucy, to the financial times, because i picture a borisjohnson given the brief income of the first thing that came to my mind was everything he gave at least a month 01’ so ago everything he gave at least a month or so ago saying that he had been talking, shaking hands with coronavirus patients, of course, everybody wishes the per minister well, but inevitably, people will look back and think, was the entire men's government, with downing street, perhaps not taking enough precautions at the time. well, i

think there will be questions asked, looking back, inevitably, there's going to be a public inquiry, i would imagine, once this is all blown over and the pandemic has been curved across the world. i think the immediate issues are looking forward , immediate issues are looking forward, however, in the short and medium term, as henry said, you know, we need to have some key leadership taken immediately for the fa ct leadership taken immediately for the fact that we are about to enter, possibly the peak of the virus of this country, that's always the case people thought at the beginning of april, heading into easter, that that might well be when we see the death tolls reaching the peak, and, of course, questions about whether the nhs will reach its capacity. if we the nhs will reach its capacity. if we start to see strain on health service in the coming days, we will need to see really strong leadership, and swift decisive decisions taken, i think longer term as well, we need to think about the exit strategy, how we start to come out of the lockdown, which, many britons across the country are

finding incredibly difficult, and of course, costing the economy several billion pounds per day that it continues. so, i don't envy dominic raab the position he's in tonight, but i think all of the current focus should be on looking forward and trying to maintain a sense of unity in the cabinet among those senior decision—makers. in the cabinet among those senior decision-makers. thank you lucy, we will look at the daily mail now, which obviously leads on the only story anyone is thinking about. no stricken, boris taken to intensive care. again, that photograph, the most care. again, that photograph, the m ost rece nt care. again, that photograph, the most recent photograph of boris johnson of the video he thumbs on friday. it talks about dominic raab as well. rob is crisis standing as oui’ as well. rob is crisis standing as our prime minister. henry, your thoughts. you were talking earlier about dominic raab when you saw him deliver that statement, what do you know about him, and the kind of role you thank you might have to play a. well, he's always presented himself asa libertarian, well, he's always presented himself as a libertarian, a freethinker. a tough guy. i mean, he's been a foreign office minister, and he's

been the justice minister, of course, he landed the topjob. i thought he would do far better than he did, but borisjohnson rewarded him for his loyalty once he stepped out of the race, and made him foreign secretary. he gets a lot of negative press as being some white slightly... these are the kinds of things that you see written about him, and he get some really bad press him, and he get some really bad pi’ess on him, and he get some really bad press on twitter, but now is a chance for him to step up, to show that he is decisive, and notjust good at writing interesting thought pieces and books and pamphlets about tory philosophy, now he has to really make decisions, take leadership, really show some heft, because this is what people are going to want to see now. the prime minister isa going to want to see now. the prime minister is a pretty popular figure on the whole. if you look at the kind of statements, the things people have been saying about him on twitter, even his enemies —— enemies said we don't wish this on him. president trump has been very complementary to him, as a strong

quy: complementary to him, as a strong guy, not a quitter, a great friend to the united states, boris is also born in new york, although he gave his american citizenship up a long time ago. so dominic raab sees himself as a bit of a tough guy. now it's his big chance to step into the late, but he is going to have to make some very tough decision. henry, thank you. lucian struck when i look at all the papers that there are not any pictures of dominic raab on the front page. it was interesting to see that statement that dominic raab delivered. it was just before 10pm i think. clearly, the most important minute for minute and a half of his public life. the focus, even as people hope the prime minister gets better, the focus will be on this stand in, potentially acting prime minister. your thoughts? well, i think henry has given an excellent privacy of his recent back on. i think it's interesting how his ability to marshal some of his cabinet colleagues, some of whom might indeed feel a little bitjealous or

rivalrous of the fact that he is taking that top roll. in recent days, we have heard reports tensions bubbling over the surface the treasury and the health department. ina way, treasury and the health department. in a way, that's natural, because there is a serious policy tension here between the health service, which the department of health and social care which wants to focus solely on saving lives in the short—term, and the treasury which obviously focused on the economy, but, of course, saving lives in the long—term and arguments about whether a recession could, you know, affect livelihoods and lives in the longer term, so i think he's in a very strange position trying to keep cabinet colleagues together and grapple with some of these policy issues. as well as trying to avoid, ina way, issues. as well as trying to avoid, in a way, trying to second—guess what boris johnson in a way, trying to second—guess what borisjohnson wanted to do, because hopefully come i'm sure borisjohnson will recover and come back to the top job, and dominic raab will have hoped not to have disappointed him. looking at the

front page of the sun, which, again the same picture of borisjohnson from friday with a phrase boris in intensive care. picking up something the other papers are mentioning, we talked a bit about politics just now coming to some extent about health. there's the human elements, of course, in all of that, and intensive care, whether they are the prime minister or anyone else, their family is not allowed to see them or visit them, one of the paper says agony for carrie, his fiancee, as she is unable to see him. that is something we'll have to bear in mind for any patient of covid—10. their families are kept apart from them. this is the most shocking thing about this illness and the way we are forced to respond to it. when somebody, whether the prime minister orjoe blow down the street has to be taken down the hospital, usually, ofie be taken down the hospital, usually, one of the things that helps them to i’e covei’ one of the things that helps them to recover is the presence of family and friends will stop you a government operationally look up from your sickbed, and you see a familiar face, and helps to rally you. it's notjust about

familiar face, and helps to rally you. it's not just about the familiar face, and helps to rally you. it's notjust about the drugs they give you the oxygen comments about the connection you make with people who are familiar to you, and boris, although he has got a good connection with his own personal doctors there, that will help them, but his fiancee, who will have a baby and some months' time, can't be there. it must be agonising for both of them. i mean, he's a very precarious guy, and he won't like this one little bit. the other think the downside of it, mentioning the prognosis for people who go into intensive care isn't very good at the moment with this disease. you know, it's 50% of them may get there, pull through, and know, it's 50% of them may get there, pullthrough, and recover. 50% of them thus far have passed away. i'm not sure how that breaks down with people who are in their mid—50s. boris is someone who likes to run, he's pretty active, he's a jogger. 0ne to run, he's pretty active, he's a jogger. one of the reasons why i think he found it so difficult to shut down, locked on britain, is that he is instinctively a freethinker, libertarian, wants

people to be able to associate and engage and be free or take exercise and enjoy the sunshine, but, unfortunately, those instincts, they don't count for anything right now, because he is a very sick man. we are going to look at the daily mirror will stop thanks, henry, for that. sick boris faces fight for life. lucy, you are not the editor ofa life. lucy, you are not the editor of a newspaper, and i'm not going to ask you questions of —— as if you area ask you questions of —— as if you are a newspaper editor, but still, this is a headline which is a really dramatic headline. we don't know how much it's based on knowledge of borisjohnson. when much it's based on knowledge of boris johnson. when newspaper editors are putting together their front pages, what kind of thoughts do they need to think about when they are writing prime minister faces fight for life? well, i think it's right that you never want to sensationalize or dramatize a health issue, and of course balancing those sort of privacy aspects of health data with the public interest, of course, borisjohnson as data with the public interest, of course, boris johnson as a public figure, as the prime minister, the

key decision—maker in this pandemic, the crisis that this country finds itself in, it's important that we know about his health, so if he's takena turn know about his health, so if he's taken a turn for the worse, and ended up in intensive care unit tonight, but i thank you are right. you know, you have to toe the line carefully, and make very balanced judgement calls, but i do think it is, we must stress that he is a public figure. we have seen how sterling has fallen tonight on the news of his health worsening, we need to reflect that in a responsible way in the media. thank you, lucy. just looking at henry at this headline again sick boris faces fight for life, the three of us can analyse papers for as long as we wind, but that is a headline, and this collection of headlines is something that people, when they see these on the news stands in the morning, will almost have an intake of breath when they see all of this, henry. they will, certainly. even though we now live in 24 hour news media, most people as they go to bed

this evening will have pick this up from about 8:30pm when it broke, and if not, 10pm in the main news. but it will still be a shock to see this person who is known to everybody in the country stricken in this way. you see that picture of him there. my flight overlooks a park, which was in the headlines over the weekend, because it was struck, the council, because i felt too many people were relaxing, telling not exercising manages associating, and not socially distancing. some people feel, still feel impregnable, still feel, still feel impregnable, still feel this disease can't touch them, still feel it's a conspiracy. well, how still feel it's a conspiracy. well, now i hope this will bring it home to them like nothing else can. henry, and lucy fisherfrom the times, thank you very much for looking through all of those newspapers and for talking about that. we really appreciate it. well that. we really appreciate it. well that was set for the papers. thanks to lucy fisher and henry, it's goodbye for now. well, more on the

pram and surprise my commission to intensive care. about the invocations of the worsening of boris johnson's invocations of the worsening of borisjohnson‘s condition. my borisjohnson‘s condition. my thoughts are her with boris johnson and carey and his family, it's obviously very worrying news tonight. all our hopes and thoughts are with the prime minister. i hope that we will have better news in the near future, and obviously, that we will have better news in the nearfuture, and obviously, you know i very much wish him well in the personal battle that he faces. you know him well? they know him reasonably well. we were colleagues in the cabinet, i suppose we been collea g u es in the cabinet, i suppose we been colleagues and political opponents to some extent, but he is someone who, even when you disagree with them, he, you know, he's a very charming, likeable figure. as the public well knows. we need him back,

as prime minister. so, i'm very much as prime minister. so, i'm very much a personal level and indeed for the good of the country. i think all of oui’ good of the country. i think all of our hopes should be that he can make a i’ecove i’y our hopes should be that he can make a recovery from what is clearly a very worrying situation. david, just to reiterate the sentence that you just said there has been repeated by many people across the country, not just in government, but in opposition as well, the archbishop of canterbury and so on, so obviously a national desire or the prime minister to get better. i wonder if we could then switch, perhaps, to the government. we are ina perhaps, to the government. we are in a national crisis, and i think a lot of people watching this programme and tuning in will want to know, is there a government in which knows its chains of command, that there is someone able to make decisions. from what i can see, it is there, it's clear that there is a situation in place. we've got cabinet committees that are well—established, there are four

cabinet committees working on this. the prime minister has given, if you like, responsibility to dominic raab as for secretary of state to act in his stead to fulfil his responsibilities. and there are big responsibilities. and there are big responsibilities with dominic, but also the cabinet as a whole to work closely together to do what is necessary for the country. you know, dominic will have the very best civil servants, the very best advisers around him, and, you know, all the support that he needs. so you know, clearly, you know, it's very farfrom ideal, you know, clearly, you know, it's very far from ideal, but nonetheless you know, the system should be strong enough to withstand the challenges that it faces. when we look at leadership illness and crisis around the world, by definition, whenever a deputy has to step in, it is a crisis. and we have

seen dominic raab give a statement. the country knows him reasonably well, it has seen him talk about brexit he knows that he ran for the leadership, what can you tell us about dominic raab which might help people to understand the person who might be having to make the most important decisions for a while. well, dominic, he is bright, he is incisive, he can be very decisive. i haven't always agreed with dominic ovei’ haven't always agreed with dominic over everything, but i think he has a lwa ys over everything, but i think he has always impressed me as a colleague. he knows what he wants to do, and get on and delivers that. he will be absolutely on top of the detail.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. britain's prime minister has moved to intensive care ten days after testing positive for coronavirus. he's been receiving excellent care at st thomas' hospital and we'd like to take this opportunity as a government to thank nhs staff up and down the country for all of their dedication and hard work and commitment in treating everyone that's been affected by this awful virus. political leaders in the uk and around the world to send their best wishes and hope for a speedy recovery. americans are all praying for his recovery. he's been a really good friend. he's been a really good friend. he's been a really good friend. he's been really something very special, strong, resolute, doesn't quit, doesn't give