Johnson 'still in charge' of British government despite hospitalization

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson continues to lead the country, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has said, despite remaining under observation in hospital in London after being admitted on Sunday night with continued COVID-19 symptoms.

Latest figures released on Monday showed that 5,373 people who had tested positive for novel coronavirus have died in hospitals in the United Kingdom.

A Cabinet meeting planned for Tuesday has been canceled, and Downing Street has declined to deny that Johnson had needed to be given oxygen, but speaking at Monday's media briefing, Raab insisted Johnson was still in charge.

Planning for the end of lockdown was taking place, said Raab, but "the risk right now is if we take our focus off the strategy, which is beginning to work, we won't get through this peak as soon as we want to".

The government's team, he said, was working "full throttle" to ensure that the outbreak was beaten, but it is still too early to think about lifting restrictions as "if we take our eye off the ball by tackling the spread of the virus, it could be bad".

At the briefing, Raab was accompanied by England's chief medical officer, Chris Whitty, who has returned to work after recovering from his own symptoms.

He agreed that it was too early to think about lifting lockdown restrictions, as that would only happen once the peak of the virus spread had been reached.

Elsewhere, British domestic violence charity Refuge reported that it has seen a huge increase in demand for its services and support since the introduction of the lockdown.

Visits to the National Domestic Abuse helpline website have more than doubled since the end of February, and campaigners are warning that the restrictions on movement imposed as part of the fight against novel coronavirus make it easier for domestic abusers to control their victims.

Refuge's chief executive Sandra Horley told the BBC that the problem of domestic violence, which affects both women and men, was being made worse by the current situation.

"While in lockdown or self-isolation, women and children are likely to be spending concentrated periods of time with perpetrators, potentially escalating the threat of domestic abuse and further restricting their freedom," she said. "Domestic abuse isn't always physical — it's a pattern of controlling, threatening and coercive behavior, which can also be emotional, economic, psychological or sexual."

The problem has also been noted in other countries. French pharmacists have been issued with codewords that victims can use to seek help secretly, and in Paris, police reported a 36 percent rise in incidents of domestic violence in one week.

Anita Bhatia, the deputy executive director of the United Nations Women, told Time magazine that measures to protect people from the virus could unfortunately put them at other risks.

"While we absolutely support the need to follow these measures of social distancing and isolation, we also recognize that it provides an opportunity for abusers to unleash more violence," she said.

British police have urged victims of domestic violence to report the crime as normal, and assured them that they will receive all necessary support.

"We would always seek to remove the perpetrator," said Louisa Rolfe, domestic abuse lead for the National Police Chiefs' Council. "Because often victims in their own home where family, friends and neighbors can look out for them are much safer than if we remove them."

In France, Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has warned the country faces its worst economic downturn since the end of World War II, even greater than the slump that followed the 2008 global financial crisis, because of the virus outbreak. "That shows the magnitude of the economic shock we are facing," he told the national senate.

Elsewhere in Europe, there is slightly more positive news.

Austria has become one of the first countries outside Asia to announce it will start a gradual lifting of lockdown measures. Social distancing must remain in place for the time being, but some shops could be open again as soon as next week, although bars and restaurants must wait until May, and major public gatherings such as sports events will have to wait until the end of June.

Denmark is also considering easing restrictions, although Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has warned it would be some time before normal life resumes. In Ireland, Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, who is a doctor, is to spend one day a week working for the health service as well as continuing his political role.

For the fourth day in a row, the number of reported deaths in Spain has fallen, with 637 fatalities over the previous 24 hours. That is the country's lowest figure for 13 days, but still takes the overall death toll past the 13,000 mark.

"What we are considering now is the return of beds that have been used for positive COVID patients to transform them back to the normal activity in hospitals," said Enrique Ruiz, Madrid's regional health minister.

One of the victims in Spain was the 82-year-old mother of Pep Guardiola, manager of English Premier League soccer team Manchester City.

A tweet from the official club account said "the Manchester City family is devastated" to hear of the death of Dolors Sala Carrio.

Following the cancellation of the Wimbledon tennis championships, the latest major sporting event to be scrapped because of the outbreak is this year's staging of one of the fixtures of the British summer calendar, the Open Championship in golf, for the first time since World War II.

Royal St George's, the Kent golf course that was due to host the event this July, will instead stage next year's tournament.