My battle with coronavirus COVID-19 'could have gone either way', says UK PM Boris Johnson

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was admitted to ICU after being tested positive for coronavirus COVID-19, on Sunday opened up about his battle with the highly contagious disease, saying that at points during his stay in the ICU doctors were making arrangements for "what to do if things went badly wrong."

My battle with coronavirus COVID-19 'could have gone either way', says UK PM Boris Johnson
Reuters photo

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was admitted to ICU after being tested positive for coronavirus COVID-19, on Sunday opened up about his battle with the highly contagious disease, saying that at points during his stay in the ICU doctors were making arrangements for "what to do if things went badly wrong."

"It was a tough old moment, I won't deny it," the 55-year-old said in an interview with the British newspaper, The Sun, "They had a strategy to deal with a 'death of Stalin-type' scenario."

Johnson remained in the ICU at St Thomas' Hospital in London for three days, where the UK PM  said he was given "liters and liters of oxygen" by doctors. 

"It was hard to believe that in just a few days my health had deteriorated to this extent," Johnson said, "I remember feeling frustrated. I couldn't understand why I wasn't getting better."

"But the bad moment came when it was 50-50 whether they were going to have to put a tube down my windpipe," Johnson said, which would've caused him to slkip into a medically induced coma.

Johnson credited United Kingdom National Health Service (NHS) doctors and nurses for his recovery. Notably, Johnson has named his newborn son,Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas Johnson, in honor of two physicians, Dr. Nick Price and Dr. Nick Hart, who treated him.

Johnson asserted that he was focused to help people escape the suffering which he had faced, but he lso wants to bring the U.K. "back on its feet."

The UK has witnessed over 28,000 deaths due to the virus, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. And, at least 183,500 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the UK so far.

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