News24.com | WATCH | What happens to a coronavirus patient in intensive care? An expert answers

WATCH | What happens to a coronavirus patient in intensive care? An expert answers

2020-04-07 19:48
A medical staff member wearing protective gear holds a coronavirus sample of a resident at a drive-through screening and testing facility point during a government-imposed nationwide lockdown as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus, at the port city of Karachi on April 4, 2020.

A medical staff member wearing protective gear holds a coronavirus sample of a resident at a drive-through screening and testing facility point during a government-imposed nationwide lockdown as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus, at the port city of Karachi on April 4, 2020. (Rizwan TABASSUM / AFP)

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Some patients with coronavirus are taken to intensive care units (ICU) to be given some extra help to combat the disease, with Boris Johnson becoming the most high-profile figure to do just that.

He was initially admitted to hospital on Sunday night, and said himself the following afternoon that he was "in good spirits" - but by evening his condition had worsened and he was moved to an ICU.

A Downing Street spokesman said the move had been one of "precaution should he require ventilation", and that the UK prime minister was still conscious.