Boris Johnson tests positive

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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson applauds healthcare workers outside 10 Downing Street in London on Thursday. Associated Press/Photo by Aaron Chown/PA

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will continue to lead his nation’s fight against COVID-19 while in self-isolation for the disease. He tweeted Friday he had developed “a temperature and persistent cough” over the past 24 hours. British Health Secretary Matt Hancock also tested positive for the new coronavirus.

What about other countries? The Spanish government on Friday said it pulled 9,000 Chinese-made testing kits after discovering they only had a 30 percent accuracy rate. The outbreak probably won’t peak in France until April, but hospitals in and around Paris will reach maximum capacity in the next 48 hours, according to the national hospital federation. On Friday, South Africa recorded its first death as the number of infections passed 1,000, the highest on the continent.

Dig deeper: Read Angela Lu Fulton’s report about how Taiwan fended off the outbreak.

Onize Ohikere

Onize is WORLD’s Africa reporter and deputy global desk chief. She is a World Journalism Institute graduate and earned a journalism degree from Minnesota State University–Moorhead. Onize resides in Abuja, Nigeria.

@onize_ohiks