UK PM Boris Johnson reportedly 'frightened' by his coronavirus experience and hesitant to lift lockdowns

United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson survived a scare with COVID-19 that caused him to be hospitalized in the intensive care unit, and his firsthand experience with the disease caused by the novel coronavirus from Wuhan, China, has left him "frightened" and "tentative," a member of Parliament told the Times of London.

The British lawmaker, identified only as a "senior Tory MP," told the Times of London that Johnson's coronavirus experience is now influencing his decisions on when to ease restrictions put in place to slow the spread of the virus.

"The prime minister is in a funny place. I think he's quite frightened," the MP said. "His illness and the warning from the doctors has really hit him hard. To find himself floored like this has got into his head. He has become really tentative."

Like the United States, the U.K. is facing the dilemma of whether to resume normal economic activity and risk a resurgence of the virus, or whether to remain locked down and risking potentially catastrophic economic consequences.

Johnson, who is still officially on leave, told Cabinet officials last week that his primary concern is avoiding a second COVID-19 surge by lifting restrictions too soon. He fears that if there is a second surge of the virus after an attempted reopening, the subsequent lockdown will have to be even more severe.

In March, Johnson was actually criticized for the opposite perspective — he was hesitant to implement strict lockdowns in the face of warnings about the potential for the U.K. health system to get overwhelmed. Guto Harri, who was a spokesman for Johnson when he was mayor of London, said Johnson's libertarian leanings led him to resist potentially unnecessary interference in people's lives.

"It's not an absolute, but he does have to be persuaded that drastic measures are justified," Harri told NBC News. "He also has a more benign view of human nature than the assumption that everyone needs to be treated like a child and be told by daddy what to do."

(H/T: New York Post)