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Prime minister Boris Johnson will return to full-time work on Monday and is “raring to go”, Dominic Raab has confirmed
Johnson has been off work for three weeks after being hospitalised with coronavirus.
The PM spent three nights in intensive care at St Thomas’s hospital in central London in a battle against Covid-19 which he said “could have gone either way”.
He was discharged two weeks ago and has been recovering at his Chequers grace-and-favour residence since.
Over the past week, the PM has been easing back into duties, receiving Covid-19 updates from senior ministers, holding his weekly audience with the Queen, and telephoning US president Donald Trump.
He will return to work at No.10 Downing Street on Monday.
Raab, the first secretary of state, has been standing in for Johnson since he was taken ill.
He told Sky News’s Ridge On Sunday: “He’s really got good spirits.
“He’s taken the time and taken the doctors’ advice to rebuild his strength.
“He’s going to be back at work full time, properly at the helm, on Monday.
“And as you can imagine with the prime minister, he’s raring to go.
“I’ve spoken to him every day this week, we’ve made sure that he’s abreast of everything that’s going on and we had a meeting at Chequers, and the chancellor joined and various members of the top team.
“So I think he’s right to have taken the time to make sure he can bounce back.
“But he’s looking forward to getting back at the reins on Monday.”
Raab meanwhile rejected calls from senior Tories to ease the lockdown, which has been in place for nearly five weeks to combat the epidemic.
Six party donors and a handful of anonymous cabinet ministers told the Sunday Times they wanted to see the restrictions eased.
But Raab stressed that the outbreak was still at a “delicate and dangerous stage” and said the government would proceed “cautiously” to avoid a second peak of infections.
“We need to make sure that the next steps are sure-footed, which is why we are proceeding very cautiously and we are sticking to the scientific advice with the social-distancing measures at this time, whilst doing all the homework to make sure that we are prepared in due course for the next phase,” he told Ridge.
He also brushed off a call from Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer for the government to set out an “exit strategy” explaining how the lockdown could eventually be lifted.
“Until we can be confident, based on the scientific advice, that we are making sure-footed steps going forward that protect life, but also preserve our way of life, frankly it is not responsible to start speculating about the individual measures,” he said.
Raab, who is also foreign secretary, confirmed ministers were considering checks on people who arrive at UK sea and airports after reports said officials were drawing up plans for passengers to be quarantined for 14 days after entering the country.
Ministers have previously rejected such an approach, arguing it would have little impact given the low numbers coming into the UK and the rate of community transmission in the country.
But Raab said the government was now “looking at” introducing measures for people arriving in the UK.
Shadow Cabinet Office minister Rachel Reeves ramped up Labour calls on the government to openly debate how lockdown restrictions might be lifted.
“It is incredibly important that the government take people with us on this journey,” she told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show.
“People have by and large stuck by the rules that have been put in place and because they’ve done that I think it is even more important that we communicate with them, treat them like grown-ups, in where we’re going next.”