Boris Johnson tests positive for coronavirus

Boris Johnson has tested positive for coronavirus and will now self-isolate in Downing Street, Number 10 has announced.

In a new statement, a Downing Street spokesperson said the Prime Minister had been tested at Number 10 by NHS staff after experiencing mild symptoms.

The spokesperson added: “He is continuing to lead the government’s response to coronavirus”.

The PM added: “I am self-isolating and that’s entirely the right thing to do.

“But be in no doubt I can continue, thanks to the wizardry of modern technology, to communicate with all my top team to lead the fightback against coronavirus.”

The news comes after a warning from Scotland’s chief medical officer, Dr Catherine Calderwood, that up to 50,000 people in Scotland could already be infected with coronavirus.

Calderwood said that between 40,000 and 50,000 people may now be infected with COVID-19 but many will not yet know it.

The official number of confirmed cases rose to 894 on Thursday, up 175 from 719 on Wednesday, with a further two deaths, taking the total number of fatalities to 25.

Calderwood said: “Once again, we’ve seen the number of confirmed cases in Scotland rise and very sadly the number of deaths again has risen.

“As I’ve said before, this of course is a very significant underestimate of the number of cases in Scotland.

“And we’re probably looking at of the order of perhaps 40,000 to 50,000 people in Scotland who are now infected with coronavirus.

“Many of them don’t yet know that they are infected, nor indeed do they realise that they are potentially going to infect those around them.”