UK's Johnson in quarantine but declares himself fit, working

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he is as “fit as a butcher’s dog” after being instructed to self-isolate for 14 days because he recently came in contact with someone who has since contracted coronavirus.

In a video message posted Monday on Twitter from his London apartment at Downing Street, Johnson said it didn’t matter that he has already endured COVID-19 and is “bursting with antibodies.”

The quarantine requirement comes at the start of a crucial week for Johnson’s Conservative government that includes discussions over a post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union. Negotiators are meeting in Brussels this week with time on a deal fast running out.

FILE - In this Nov. 9, 2020 file photo Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson reaches out during a virtual press conference on the coronavirus pandemic at 10 Downing Street in central London. Johnson is self-isolating after being told he came into contact with someone who tested positive for the coronavirus, officials said Sunday Nov. 15. "He will carry on working from Downing Street, including on leading the government's response to the coronavirus pandemic," a statement from his office said. (Tolga Akmen Pool via AP, File)

Johnson, who contracted the virus in April and spent three days in intensive care as his symptoms worsened, met with a small group of lawmakers for about a half-hour on Thursday, including one, Lee Anderson, who subsequently developed symptoms and tested positive.

Johnson was notified by the National Health Service’s Test and Trace system Sunday and told he should self-isolate because of factors including the length of the meeting.

“We’ve got to interrupt the spread of the disease and one of the ways we can do that now is by self isolating for 14 days when contacted by Test and Trace,” Johnson said.

FILE - In this Nov. 11, 2020 file photo Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and Chancellor Rishi Sunak during a visit to a tesco.com distribution centre in London. Johnson is self-isolating after being told he came into contact with someone who tested positive for the coronavirus, officials said Sunday Nov. 15. "He will carry on working from Downing Street, including on leading the government's response to the coronavirus pandemic," a statement from his office said. (AP PhotoKirsty Wigglesworth, File)

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said it was right that the prime minister goes into self-isolation even though he’s already had coronavirus as people “can catch it twice.”

"The prime minister is following exactly the same rules as every other person in the country," Hancock told BBC Radio.

Hancock also brushed aside suggestions that Downing Street is not following the advice it preaches as pictures emerged of Johnson with Anderson posing for a photograph seemingly less than two meters (6 1/2 feet) apart.

“The critical thing is that when somebody gets coronavirus, the turnaround of the system is rapid,” Hancock said.

Danny Altmann, professor of immunology at Imperial College London, said the self-isolation rules "probably are sensible.”

He told BBC Radio there have been more than 25 confirmed cases of COVID-19 reinfection globally, but that he thought the actual rate of reinfection is "quite a lot higher than that, but not enormous.”

“I think my bottom line is not to be alarmist because whatever the risk is, it is low," he said. “My sense from some of our data and other people’s data is that it’s the people who’ve made the poorest and most negligible antibody response the first time round who are most at risk of reinfection.”

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British lawmakers looked likely Thursday to order an investigation into Prime Minister Boris Johnson for allegedly lying about whether he broke coronavirus restrictions by attending illegal gatherings during the pandemic.

The opposition Labour Party has called a House of Commons vote that, if passed, would trigger a watchdog committee probe of Johnson for allegedly misleading Parliament. Ministers found to have knowingly misled Parliament are generally expected to resign.

Johnson’s Conservatives have a substantial majority in Parliament, but many are uneasy with the prime minister’s behavior and could support the opposition move. The government initially said it would order Conservative lawmakers to oppose Labour’s motion, but later backtracked in the face of party disquiet and gave them a free vote — significantly raising the chances the measure will pass.

Labour leader Keir Starmer said his measure sought to uphold “the simple principle that honesty, integrity and telling the truth matter in our politics.”

Johnson wasn't attending the vote on a scandal that has rocked his leadership of the country and the Conservative Party. He was more than 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometers) away in India, insisting he wanted to “get on with the job” of leading the country.

Johnson was fined 50 pounds ($66) by police last week for attending his own birthday party in his office in June 2020, when people in Britain were barred from meeting up with friends and family, or even visiting dying relatives. Johnson is the first British prime minister ever found to have broken the law while in office.

He has apologized, but denied he knowingly broke the rules. Johnson’s shifting defense — initially saying there were no illegal gatherings, then claiming it “did not occur to me” that the birthday event was a party — has drawn derision and outrage from opponents, who have called for him to quit.

It has also made some Conservatives uncomfortable about defending a leader who broke rules he imposed on the country. Until now many have indicated they will wait and see whether public anger translates into losses for the party at local elections across the country on May 5.

Senior civil servant Sue Gray is investigating 16 events, including “bring your own booze” office parties and “wine time Fridays” in Johnson’s 10 Downing St. office and other government buildings. Police are probing a dozen of the events and so far have handed out at least 50 tickets, including those to Johnson, his wife Carrie and Treasury chief Rishi Sunak, and Johnson could still face more police fines.

As he flew out to India for a two-day visit official focused on boosting economic ties, Johnson again denied knowingly misleading Parliament.

And he insisted he would lead the Conservatives into the next national election, due by 2024. He said aboard his plane to the western Indian state of Gujarat that there might be “some imaginary circumstances in which I might have to resign, but I don’t propose to go into them. I can’t think of them right now.”