Coronavirus Strikes UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson

When British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Friday morning that he had tested positive for coronavirus, he insisted that he would continue to head up his country's fight against the pandemic.

In a video posted to his official Twitter page, Johnson said that "thanks to the wizardry of modern technology," he would continue to lead the effort remotely from the prime ministerial quarters above 11 Downing Street, next door to one of the most famous addresses on earth.



But how can the leader of a country with a population of over 66 million carry on as normal while self-isolating during a global health crisis? Especially as his health secretary also tested positive for the virus, and that his chief medical officer self-isolated with symptoms.

Isolating the Prime Minister is not that difficult, in itself. The Downing Street premises are actually considerably bigger than they look from the outside. Behind that famous black door at Number 10 lies a warren of rooms and offices that extend sideways into 11 and 12 Downing Street -- the three addresses are all that survive from a longer terrace constructed at the end of the 17th century -- and back into a much larger 18th-century building at the rear.



Johnson lives in a rather modest apartment above Number 11, which is easily shut off from Number 10. (A Downing Street spokesman said earlier on Friday that the connecting door between the two buildings would be shut.) Anything that the Prime Minister needs, whether official papers or deliveries of food and drink, will be left outside a door for him to collect. However, in an effort to contain the virus, Downing Street will try to keep even this level of contact at a minimum.

Meetings will take place via video conference. While this might sound unusual, some of Johnson's most important regular appointments had already stopped being personal interactions. For example, recent meetings of the UK's Cabinet have taken place virtually. And Johnson's spokesperson confirmed that it had been at least two weeks since the Prime Minister's traditional weekly audience with the Queen had switched from being an in-person meeting at the Palace to a down-the-line phone call.

If you've watched The Crown, you'll be well aware that Queen Elizabeth II holds weekly audiences with the British prime minister at Buckingham Palace. The PM keeps the monarch up to date with the latest news and events, and the queen has carried out this routine with 14 government leaders to date.



Due to the coronavirus pandemic, and subsequent enforced social distancing rules put in place by the government in the United Kingdom, this week's audience was conducted over the phone.



A split photo shared on Twitter shows the queen, at Windsor Castle where she is currently self-isolating with husband Prince Philip, and Boris Johnson from Downing Street, on the phone to one another.



We're not sure whether it's the divide of the photo, the expressions of the queen and prime minister, the vintage phone the queen uses to speak on (seriously, is that a rotating dial?), or Johnson's official red box in shot, but when it was first shared there were a number of Twitter followers thinking it was the latest social distancing-related meme, rather than a legitimate picture.