The prime minister has been moved out of the intensive care unit where he had been receiving treatment for coronavirus.

Boris Johnson had been undergoing treatment in the intensive care unit at St Thomas’ Hospital in London.

But a No 10 spokesman said Mr Johnson had been returned to the ward at St Thomas’ as his condition continued to improve.

The spokesman said: “The prime minister has been moved this evening from intensive care back to the ward, where he will receive close monitoring during the early phase of his recovery.”

He added: “He is in extremely good spirits.”

A number of people have reacted to the news, including health secretary and West Suffolk MP Matt Hancock, who tweeted: “So good that the prime minister is out of intensive care and on the road to recovery. The NHS is there for us all and I know our amazing NHS staff have given him their characteristic world-class care.”

Earlier today, foreign secretary Dominic Raab spoke of how the prime minister had been improving at the daily Downing Street press conference.

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He said that he continued to “make positive steps forward” and was “in good spirits”.

Mr Raab had urged the public to stay at home this Easter weekend to help tackle the spread of coronavirus.

He said: “We are not done yet. We must keep going.”

Mr Raab said data was still being gathered on the impact of social distancing but insisted it was still “too early” to lift the lockdown restrictions in place across the UK.

Calling on the public not to give coronavirus a “second chance”, Mr Raab said: “It’s been almost three weeks and we’re starting to see the impact of the sacrifices we’ve all made.

“But the deaths are still rising and we haven’t yet reached the peak of the virus. So it’s still too early to lift the measures that we put in place.

“We must stick to the plan and we must continue to be guided by the science.”

The daily press briefing heard 243,421 people in the country had so far been tested for the virus, of which 65,077 tested positive and with 16,784 being admitted to hospital with coronavirus symptoms.

He said thoughts were with the family and friends of the 7,978 that had died.

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