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Boris Johnson suffered severe coronavirus symptoms because he is ‘significantly overweight’, a doctor has claimed.

Appearing on Good Morning Britain today, cardiologist Dr Assem Malhotra stated that the Prime Minister’s senior advisers had shared concerns about his weight in the past.

He said: ‘It was very concerning for the whole nation, seeing our Prime Minister Boris Johnson get admitted to hospital. It’s an observation, but it does fit with the evidence, that Boris unfortunately is significantly overweight.

‘I used to speak to his very senior advisors when he was London Mayor a few years ago, who expressed to me personally concerns about his weight. People with obesity also seem to spread the virus for a much longer time and clearly get sicker.


Boris Johnson was described as ‘significantly overweight’ (Picture: 10 Downing Street)

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‘If you notice Chris Whitty, Matt Hancock, other members of the Cabinet who got the virus did not get as inflicted as badly, and they are essentially very slim. They don’t seem to be affected by overweight issues.’

Presenters Susanna Reid and Piers Morgan then cut Dr Malhotra off, before asking their in-show expert Dr Hilary Jones what he thought about the PM’s weight.

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Dr Hilary responded: ‘He is pretty average for the rest of the population, but the rest of the population, when you take into account overweight people as well as obese people, you’re talking about 60% of the population.’

He added that there ‘does seem to be a relationship between obesity and severe cases of coronavirus’, but noted that medics have known for a ‘long time’ the health complications being overweight can cause.

Cardiologist Dr Assem Malhotra said he has had concerns about Johnson’s weight for some time (Picture: ITV )

Johnson returned to work on Monday, after he was admitted to hospital for coronavirus at the start of the month. The PM spent several days in intensive care at St Thomas’ Hospital in London, before heading to Chequers, his countryside home, to recover.

Speaking in front of Downing Street, he said he could attest to the virus being a ‘physical assailant, an unexpected and invisible mugger’.

He went on to say now is the time to ‘wrestle it to the floor’, as he emphasised that lockdown restrictions would not be relaxing too quickly.

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