British PM taken to intensive care due to worsening coronavirus symptoms

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was taken to intensive care on Monday night after his coronavirus symptoms worsened, Downing Street said.

Johnson has asked Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to deputize for him, a Downing Street spokesman said.

The prime minister, 55, was admitted to St Thomas' Hospital in London with "persistent symptoms" on Sunday night, 10 days after testing positive for coronavirus.

Meanwhile, Johnson remains in charge of the government after being hospitalized due to persistent coronavirus symptoms, Downing Street said Monday.

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick told the BBC that Johnson is waiting for the results of tests after spending the night in hospital.

"This isn't an emergency admission, and so I certainly expect that he'll be back at Number 10 shortly," the secretary said.

Johnson, 55, had been self-isolating in his Downing Street residence since testing positive for COVID-19 on March 26 -- the first known head of government to contract the disease.

England's Health Secretary Matt Hancock also tested positive for COVID-19 last week.

The number of people who have died after contracting the novel coronavirus in Britain has jumped by 621 in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of people who have died in hospital to 4,934 as of 1600 GMT on Saturday, the British Department of Health said.

As of 0800 GMT on Sunday, a total of 195,524 people have been tested in the country, of which 47,806 tested positive.