LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday underwent a "minor" sinus operation and has returned to his Downing Street office-residence to recuperate, his official spokesperson said.
Johnson went into a hospital in London around 6 am local time on Monday for a routine procedure on the National Health Service (NHS) related to his sinuses and was briefly under general anaesthesia.
While he takes a day off to recover, Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab will be presiding over any "significant decisions" required before Johnson returns to work on Tuesday.
"It was a minor routine operation related to his sinuses... He was back in Downing Street shortly after 10am (local time),” a Downing Street spokesperson said.
The nose operation was said to have been "scheduled for a while" and both Raab and UK Cabinet Secretary Simon Case were aware of its timing.
Johnson's sinus issue is not believed to be related to his COVID-19 illness in 2020, when he had to spend a few days in a London hospital's intensive care unit.
Johnson is set to chair a weekly Cabinet meeting on Tuesday and is still expected to travel to Kigali, Rwanda, later this week for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
