Chancellor Rishi Sunak reportedly told colleagues GDP would shrink by 25% to 30% between April and June.
Johnson was starting his convalescence from the disease at his country residence on Monday after leaving hospital the previous day, with no clarity on when he would return to work. With foreign minister Dominic Raab deputising for him, but without the full authority of a prime minister, the government faced excruciating trade-offs between the needs of the health service and of the economy, with national morale also at stake.
The Treasury spokesman said the figure of £14 billion included some new funding and some previously announced, and represented a tally of everything that had been decided so far.