Amid coronavirus crisis, British PM Johnson’s fiancée gives birth to boy

FILE PHOTO: Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his partner Carrie Symonds leave after the annual Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey in London, Britain – REUTERS

London (Reuters): British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s fiancée, Carrie Symonds, gave birth to a baby boy at a London hospital on Wednesday, slightly earlier than had been expected.

Symonds, 32, had said previously that their baby was due in the early summer. Johnson, 55, whose country is facing its worst health crisis since the 1918 influenza outbreak, was expected to take a short period of paternity leave later in the year, his spokesman said.

“The Prime Minister and Ms Symonds are thrilled to announce the birth of a healthy baby boy at a London hospital earlier this morning,” a spokeswoman said. “Both mother and baby are doing very well.

Johnson was present throughout the birth, the spokesman said. There was no announcement of a name.

The new arrival tops a tumultuous month for Johnson. He returned to work on Monday after recuperating from COVID-19, which had left him gravely ill in intensive care at the peak of the coronavirus outbreak.

Symonds, a former public relations executive, also had symptoms of the virus but recovered more swiftly.

“This birth would be counted as premature,” said Alexander Heazell, professor of obstetrics at the University of Manchester.

Johnson’s Conservative government has faced criticism for its handling of the coronavirus epidemic and its slow initial response. The country now has one of the world’s highest death tolls, with more than 21,000 fatalities.

But he benefited from public sympathy over his hospitalisation, and state broadcaster the BBC and other media outlets made the baby’s birth the top item on their news bulletins.