---
title: "UK Prime Minister Who Downplayed Coronavirus Now Has It"
description: "UK prime minister Boris Johnson downplayed the coronavirus pandemic for weeks. Now he says that he's tested positive for it."
date: "2020-03-27"
modified: "2020-03-27"
authors:
  - name: "Jon Christian"
    job_title: "Executive Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/boris-johnson-coronavirus"
categories:
  - "Future Society"
  - "Health & Medicine"
  - "Medical"
  - "Pathogens"
  - "Viruses"
tags:
  - "coronavirus"
  - "covid19"
  - "health"
  - "the digest"
---

# UK Prime Minister Who Downplayed Coronavirus Now Has It

![UK prime minister Boris Johnson downplayed the coronavirus pandemic for weeks. Now he says that he's tested positive for it.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/boris-johnson-uk-prime-minister-has-coronavirus.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: CNN\</em\>*

## Take Two

UK prime minister Boris Johnson downplayed the coronavirus pandemic for weeks, before [finally reversing course](<https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/03/17/britain-uk-coronavirus-response-johnson-drops-go-it-alone/>) in mid-March to treat the outbreak seriously.

"The British government and its advisers had the chance to learn from what was happening in Italy," wrote *Bloomberg* two days ago, in an [excoriating essay](<https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-03-25/coronavirus-boris-johnson-s-response-has-been-a-fiasco>). "They blew it."

And now, in a darkly poetic stroke, Johnson says he's caught COVID-19 himself.

## Too Late

During critical weeks, as the virus started to take hold in the UK, the "[bouffant and boorish](<https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/10/opinions/boris-johnson-uk-version-trump-maltby/index.html>)" Johnson [declined to advise](<https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/03/17/britain-uk-coronavirus-response-johnson-drops-go-it-alone/>) the general public to stay home.

That finally changed about a week ago, after experts warned that it could cause hundreds of thousands of unnecessary deaths, with Johnson issuing new guidelines that citizens should attempt to minimize contact with one another.

## Moving Forward

The 55-year-old Johnson [plans to remain](<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/27/world/europe/boris-johnson-coronavirus.html>) in self-imposed quarantine at 10 Downing Street while he gets over the bug, but he says he's going to keep running the government — via, in his own words, "video-conference" — while isolated.

https://twitter.com/BorisJohnson/status/1243496858095411200

**READ MORE:** [Boris Johnson tests positive for coronavirus](<https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/27/uk/uk-boris-johnson-coronavirus-gbr-intl/index.html>) \[*CNN*\]

 **More on the virus:** *[Bill Gates Is Pissed: “We Should’ve Done More” to Stop COVID-19](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/bill-gates-laments-covid-19-coronavirus>)*

## Author
I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/jonchristian.net>)