With British Prime Minister Boris Johnson admitted to an intensive care unit, President Trump said he and others around him would receive regular coronavirus testing.
Trump took time during his regular White House daily briefing to say that the public is praying for the recovery of a close ally. But Johnson’s sickness will have countries around the world preparing for the scenario of a leader incapacitated or worse by COVID-19.
Trump, who was sharing the briefing room podium with his vice president, said both he and his deputy had been tested during the past couple of days.
“Just because of questions like that, I think we’ll probably have maybe quite a few tests. It’s not the worst idea, you know. The system of testing now is so quick and so easy,” he said.
The White House has gradually stepped up precautions around the president during the past month. Journalists have their temperatures taken before being allowed into the briefing room.
Many staff are working from home, some are wearing masks around the complex, and, on Friday, the White House announced that a new rapid test meant that anyone meeting Trump or Pence would be subject to testing “to evaluate for presymptomatic or asymptomatic carriers.”
Johnson, 55, was admitted to the hospital on Sunday after his high temperature had not eased some 10 days after testing positive for the virus. A day later, he was transferred to the intensive care unit.
The United Kingdom does not set out a prime ministerial chain of succession. Instead, Johnson asked Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to step in during an emergency.
Earlier in the day, Trump spoke to chief executives of four pharmaceutical and biotech companies. He said he asked two of them to help Johnson without specifying what treatments they might be able to offer.
“They have arrived in London already,” he said. “Their London office has whatever they need, and we will see if we can be of help.
“We have contacted all of Boris’s doctors, and we will see what is going to take place. But they are ready to go. But, when you get brought into intensive care, that gets very, very serious with this particular disease.”
Trump has forged a close relationship Johnson, a fellow populist who led Britain out of the European Union in January, and they have spoken regularly by telephone.
The president offered his hopes for a speedy recovery.
“We were very saddened to hear that he was taken into intensive care this afternoon, a little while ago,” he said. “Americans are all praying for his recovery. He’s been a really good friend. He’s been really something very special: strong, resolute, doesn’t quit, doesn’t give up.”
Trump was among a string of well-wishers who offered their support throughout the day.
French President Emmanuel Macron wrote in a tweet: “All my support goes to Boris Johnson, to his family, and to the British people at this difficult time. I hope that he overcomes this ordeal quickly.”
On Monday, the U.S. nationwide death toll passed 10,000, according to Johns Hopkins University’s running tally. The total number of cases reached more than 360,000, although Trump again heralded “light at the end of the tunnel” as governors in New York and New Jersey said they were seeing tentative indications that the outbreaks were starting to plateau.
The latest data suggest that mitigation efforts are having an impact. One of the models used by the White House and developed by the University of Washington has reduced its forecast death toll to 82,000, a 12% reduction.
However, it is only one of a number of models being used by Trump’s coronavirus task force.
Trump also confirmed, during a 96-minute appearance, that he had spoken to Joe Biden during the day about the unfolding crisis.
“He gave me his point of view, and I fully understand that and we just had a very friendly conversation,” he said. “Lasted probably 15 minutes. And it was really good.”
