COVID-19 Roundup: British Prime Minister Enters ICU for Worsening Symptoms

Ten days after being diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was moved to the intensive care unit (ICU) of a London hospital Monday.

According to The Associated Press, he is not on a ventilator. He was admitted to St. Thomas’ Hospital Sunday for what were said to be routine tests.

But his coronavirus symptoms worsened Monday, just a day after he was admitted for what were said to be routine tests.

The New York Times reported that while Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is standing in for Johnson, said the prime minister remains “in charge” of the government, Raab also admitted that he had not spoken to the prime minister since Saturday.

Johnson, 55, went into self-isolation on March 26.

Also Monday:

The CDC released a preliminary report about how COVID-19 is affecting children in the United States. Between February 12 and April 2, the time period covered by the report, there were 3 pediatric deaths. Relatively few children with COVID-19 are hospitalized, and fewer children than adults experience fever, cough, or shortness of breath.

As of April 2, just 1.7% (2572) cases have been reported in patients aged <18 years among the 149,082 US cases of COVID-19; children account for 22% of the US population. As with adult cases, where men are more often affected than women, a majority (57%) of pediatric patients were males.

Among 345 pediatric cases with information on underlying conditions, 80 (23%) had at least 1 underlying condition, the most common being chronic lung disease, such as asthma; cardiovascular disease; and immunosuppression.