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Boris Johnson at Westminster Abbey during a service to mark Armistice Day. PA Images

Boris Johnson has tested negative for Covid-19, but remains in self-isolation

Johnson was tested as part of a pilot scheme for staff in No 10 Downing Street.

UK PRIME MINISTER Boris Johnson has tested negative for Covid-19, but will remain in self-isolation, Downing Street said.

Johnson took a rapid turnaround lateral flow test as part of a pilot scheme for No 10 staff.

“The PM took a test yesterday and that test was negative,” the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said.

“But he will, in accordance with the rules on self-isolation, continue to self-isolate.”

The Prime Minister has been shut in Downing Street since he received an email saying Tory MP Lee Anderson – who he hosted for a breakfast meeting last Thursday – had tested positive.

Johnson will answer Prime Minister’s Questions remotely tomorrow, Downing Street said.

He is working from an office in No 10 that he can reach from his flat in No 11 without coming into contact with Downing Street staff.

The Prime Minister has already had a serious case of Covid-19, which left him in intensive care, and has declared he is “bursting with antibodies”.

But No 10 insisted he would continue to follow the rules on self-isolation, which will keep him inside Downing Street until 14 days have elapsed since his meeting with Anderson.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said:

The rules have been carefully drawn up on the basis of the best existing medical advice and that is if you have come into contact with someone who later tests positive for coronavirus you do need to self-isolate for a period of 14 days from that first contact.

“It’s also the current medical assessment that the fact you have had coronavirus doesn’t remove that requirement to self-isolate.

“The rules are the same for everybody in every part of the country and the Prime Minister is following them, the same as every other member of the public.”

People who are self-isolating after coming into contact with a positive case are not usually eligible for a test unless they develop symptoms.

But different tests being piloted around the country, including the mass testing scheme in Liverpool which are available to asymptomatic people.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We are piloting these in a wide variety of settings at the moment.

“We are using them in schools, universities, workplaces, Liverpool.

“In No 10 we are taking part in a pilot where some staff have access to a lateral flow test if they wish to.”

That pilot scheme in No 10 has been operating for around two weeks, the spokesman revealed.

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    Mute keyboardwarrior
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    Nov 17th 2020, 4:13 PM

    Hiding not isolating

    98
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    Mute Tim Walsh
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    Nov 17th 2020, 5:21 PM

    @keyboardwarrior: something else to blame if the deal with the EU, assuming there is one, goes over badly

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    Mute Joe Johnson
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    Nov 17th 2020, 6:15 PM

    @keyboardwarrior: Best place for him

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    Mute Eugene Conroy
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    Nov 17th 2020, 4:44 PM

    Why are comments closed on the previous artical.

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    Mute The God Of All Nerds
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    Nov 17th 2020, 4:20 PM

    Good he can stay there

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    Mute JG
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    Nov 17th 2020, 5:29 PM

    Boris will answer questions remotely… now that is a change of tack as he hasn’t come remotely close to answering serious questions honestly ever in his life.

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    Mute Mick Tobin
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    Nov 17th 2020, 4:21 PM

    - “The Prime Minister is bursting with antibodies”

    So much so that he calls Scottish devolution a disaster, thereby pretty much writing next year’s SNP campaign slogan for them, and perhaps becoming the worst enemy of his own beloved so-called union.

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    Mute Declan McArdle
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    Nov 17th 2020, 5:02 PM

    Johnson has immunity through T cells.

    Mother Nature: I told you so.

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    Mute Paul Kelly
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    Nov 17th 2020, 6:10 PM

    He would have been the 10th person out of 54 million to get the disease twice.
    Smoke and Mirrors here.

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    Mute Paul Shepherd
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    Nov 17th 2020, 6:27 PM

    Good. He can while away the hours in his kitchen watching the oven to make sure his ready made deal doesn’t burn…

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    Mute Donal Desmond
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    Nov 17th 2020, 9:26 PM

    Wonder why comments are open concerning the British Prime Minister, Yet comments closed concerning a statement by the part time Taoiseacht Michael Martin.

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    Mute JG
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    Nov 17th 2020, 5:28 PM

    Boris will answer questions remotely… that’s a change as he hasn’t come remotely close to answering serious questions ever in his l

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    Mute John
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    Nov 17th 2020, 6:12 PM

    Bet he’s disappointed. He would have loved the sympathy to spin things again

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