Dominic Raab, Foreign Secretary, on Tuesday, insisted he is ‘confident’ Boris Johnson will ‘pull through’ his intensive care battle with coronavirus as the de facto prime minister labelled his boss a ‘fighter’, adding he was stable.

The Foreign Secretary has been put in charge of running the country after Mr Johnson was admitted to hospital last night after his condition worsened.

But Mr Raab said he believed Mr Johnson will be back at the helm ‘in short order’ to lead the fight against the deadly disease.

Downing Street tonight confirmed that the PM remained ‘stable’ and in ‘good spirits’. A spokesman said he was undergoing ‘close monitoring’ in intensive care’.

No 10 this morning confirmed he was ‘breathing without assistance’ and does not have pneumonia.

Speaking at the daily coronavirus press conference in Number 10 this afternoon, Mr. Raab said: ‘I think it is probably worth just remembering that as will be the case for many people up and down the country who know someone at work who has fallen ill with the coronavirus it comes as a shock to all of us.

‘He is not just the Prime Minister to all of us in Cabinet. He is not just our boss. He is also a colleague and he is also our friend.

‘So all of our thoughts and prayers are with the Prime Minister at this time, with Carrie and with his whole family.

‘I am confident he will pull through because if there is one thing I know about this Prime Minister, he is a fighter and he will be back at the helm leading us through this crisis in short order.’

Mr Raab’s elevation to the top job has sparked a wave of questions over how much of the PM’s powers he has taken over amid concerns about the extent to which the government could respond to new developments without first getting Mr Johnson’s approval.

But Mr Raab, the First Secretary of State, tonight stressed the deputising model now being used will be fit for purpose and resilient enough to deal with unforeseen events.

‘I have got total confidence in the arrangements that the Prime Minister has put in place so that I can discharge the responsibility for him, deputising for him while he is out of action and obviously we hope that will be for a very limited period of time,’ he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Raab gave a firm hint that the current state of lockdown is likely to remain in place beyond the three week review deadline as he said the UK must not take its ‘foot off the pedal’ in combatting the spread of the disease.

‘Everyone needs to keep adhering to this guidance,’ he said. ‘We have got a long bank holiday Easter weekend coming up, warm weather. We understand that people are making big sacrifices to follow this guidance.

‘It is helping. It is contributing to our ability to tackle the coronavirus. The worst thing now would be to take our foot off the pedal, to ease up on that and risk losing the gains that have been made.

‘So it is absolutely critical that people keep up that discipline and the vast majority will and we hope everyone will follow that example because it is the way to make sure that we consolidate the progress we have made and don’t lose the progress we have made.’

The more positive news from Mr Raab about Mr Johnson’s condition came after Michael Gove said the premier’s plight is ‘truly frightening’ and ministers are ‘praying’ for his swift recovery.

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Mr Johnson was moved to ICU at St Thomas’ Hospital in central London and given oxygen last night after his health deteriorated sharply over just two hours, leaving doctors fearing he will end up needing a ventilator.

But the 55-year-old’s spokesman said today: ‘The Prime Minister has been stable overnight and remains in good spirits.

‘He is receiving standard oxygen treatment and breathing without any other assistance. He has not required mechanical ventilation or non-invasive respiratory support.’

In a round of broadcast interviews this morning, Mr Gove had played down concerns that the government will be paralysed with the leader out of action, insisting that Mr Johnson had already been on a ‘stripped back diary’ for days and ‘Cabinet is the supreme decision making body’.

However, within hours it had emerged that Mr Gove himself had also been impacted by coronavirus, as he has gone into self-isolation following a family member displaying symptoms.

New prime ministers usually write ‘letters of last resort’ to nuclear submarine captains, setting out instructions if government is wiped out by an enemy strike. But No10 said Mr Johnson’s existing letters will continue to apply, rather than Mr Raab writing new ones.

MPs have raised alarm that hostile states such as Russia – which has already been accused of spreading disinformation about Mr Johnson’s condition – could try to exploit Britain’s ‘weakness’.

General Sir Nick Carter, chief of the defence staff, said the armed forces ‘work straight through to the Prime Minister’, although he suggested the National Security Council (NSC) will now fill the gap.

Asked who will be in control of the nuclear deterrent and armed forces, the PM’s spokesman said: ‘In relation to national security matters the First Secretary of State and the Cabinet have the authority and the ability to respond in the Prime Minister’s absence.’

The Queen is being kept informed about Mr Johnson’s condition and has send a message of support to Mr Johnson’s pregnant partner Carrie Symond and the PM’s family.

But she will not grant audiences to Mr Raab while he is standing in for the premier. The monarch appoints the PM, choosing the individual who is best placed to carry a majority in the Commons.

Vanguard