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Boris Johnson has been “sitting up in bed” and engaging with medics while he is treated for coronavirus in intensive care, the chancellor has confirmed. 

The prime minister’s condition is “improving” and he is receiving “excellent care”, Rishi Sunak also said at the Downing Street press briefing today. 

“The latest from the hospital is the prime minister remains in intensive care where his condition is improving,” said Sunak. 

“I can also tell you that he has been sitting up in bed and engaging positively with the clinical team.

“The prime minister is not only my colleague and my boss but also my friend, and my thoughts are with him and his family.”

The PM has been receiving round-the-clock care at St Thomas’ Hospital in London after he was admitted on Sunday night with persistent symptoms of the disease.  

On Monday, when his condition worsened, he was moved to an intensive care unit where he has been given oxygen. 

First secretary of state Dominic Raab is deputising for Johnson while he is in hospital. The foreign secretary on Tuesday described the PM as a “fighter” who would “pull through” and be back at the helm “in short order”. 

Sunak added on Wednesday: “The news about the PM reminds us how indiscriminate this disease is.

“Nearly everyone will know someone who has been affected – friends, family, neighbours, colleagues.

“This is a terrible virus that respects no boundaries of status or geography or vocation.”