British PM Boris Johnson, Health Minister Matt Hancock Test Positive for Coronavirus

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday said he has tested positive for the novel coronavirus and is in isolation.

"I've taken a test. That has come out positive," Johnson said in a video statement broadcast on Twitter. "I've developed mild symptoms of the coronavirus. That's to say - a temperature and a persistent cough.

"So I am working from home. I'm self-isolating," he said. "Be in no doubt that I can continue, thanks to the wizardry of modern technology, to communicate with all my top team to lead the national fightback against coronavirus."

Hours later, British Health Secretary Matt Hancock became the second high-ranking UK government member to confirm his COVID-19 diagnosis.

Hancock, like Johnson, says he has mild symptoms of the disease and has been working from home for the past few days in line with the UK government lockdown advice for people to stay at home as part of efforts to try and control the spread of the pandemic.

A Downing Street spokesperson said Johnson, 55, experienced mild symptoms on Thursday - a day after he answered at the prime minister's weekly question-and-answer session in parliament's House of Commons chamber.

Queen Elizabeth, who last saw Johnson on March 11, is following all appropriate advice with regards to her welfare, the Buckingham Palace said in a statement.

It was not immediately clear how many Downing Street staff and senior ministers would now need to isolate given that many have had contact with Johnson over recent days and weeks.

His finance minister, Rishi Sunak, was not self-isolating, a Treasury source said.

When Britain clapped health workers on Thursday evening, Johnson and Sunak came out of separate entrances on Downing Street and did not come into close contact, according to a Reuters photographer at the scene.

Nor was it immediately clear whether Johnson's 32-year-old partner, Carrie Symonds, who is pregnant, had been tested.

Previously the government has said that Johnson had the option to del agate to Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab if needed.

"The prime minister was tested for coronavirus on the personal advice of England's Chief Medical Officer, Professor Chris Whitty," the spokesperson said. "The test was carried out in No 10 by NHS staff and the result of the test was positive."

So far, 578 people in the United Kingdom have died after testing positive for coronavirus and the number of confirmed cases has risen to 11,658. The UK toll is the seventh worst in the world, after Italy, Spain, China, Iran, France and the United States.

High-profile names

Johnson has become one of the most high-profile leaders to have tested positive for the coronavirus, which has so far claimed more than 21,000 lives around the world. Prince Charles, eldest son and heir to Queen Elizabeth II, also tested positive and is showing mild symptoms but "otherwise remains in good health", his office had said earlier this week.

Swedish climate activist Thunberg on Tuesday said it was "extremely likely" she had contracted the virus after experiencing symptoms following a trip to central Europe.

Prince Albert II of Monaco has tested positive, although there are "no concerns for his health", the palace said on March 19.

Michel Barnier, who leads the European Union's negotiations with Britain on Brexit, announced on March 19 that he had tested positive.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been in isolation since March 13 after his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau tested positive.

The first test result for German Chancellor Angela Merkel came back negative on Monday. Merkel began self-isolating on Sunday after being treated by a doctor who later tested positive for the virus.

On Tuesday Finland said Nobel laureate and former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, aged 82, has contracted the virus.

(With inputs from Reuters and AFP)