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The pound fell against the dollar and euro on Monday after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was admitted to hospital for tests after showing persistent symptoms of the coronavirus.

“When a head of state or government is stricken like this, it will cause concern for holders of sterling and sterling assets,” said Foreign currency expert, Masafumi Yamamoto.

The pound fell 0.44% to $1.2215 on Monday in Asia.

Against the euro, sterling fell 0.35% to 88.49 pence.

Johnson was admitted in what Downing Street said was a “precautionary step” because he was showing persistent symptoms of COVID-19 10 days after testing positive for the novel coronavirus.

The coronavirus, which emerged in China late last year, has turned into a global pandemic that has claimed more than 64,000 lives and paralyzed large swathes of the global economy.

The dollar was little changed at $1.0800 per euro and held steady at 0.9769 Swiss franc.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday expressed hope that the United States was seeing a “leveling-off” of the coronavirus crisis in some of the nation’s hot spots.