March 29, 2024 01:00 (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
PM Modi has mastered art of manipulating democracy, hurting Constitution: Mallikarjun Kharge | Mafia-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari dies of cardiac arrest at 63 | NIA arrests key conspirator in Bengaluru cafe blast case | Actor Govinda returns to politics after 14 years of 'vanvas', joins Eknath Shinde camp | 'To browbeat and bully others is vintage Congress culture': PM posts after 600 lawyers write to CJI
UK confirms 38,168 COVID-19 cases, Britons urged to stick to social distancing

UK confirms 38,168 COVID-19 cases, Britons urged to stick to social distancing

India Blooms News Service | @indiablooms | 04 Apr 2020, 06:44 am

London/Xinhua/UNI: The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Britain reached 38,168 as of Friday morning, an increase of 4,450 in 24 hours, according to the lastest figure from the Department of Health and Social Care.

As of Thursday afternoon, of those hospitalised in Britain who tested positive for the novel coronavirus, 3,605 have died, marking a record daily rise of 684.

During Friday's coronavirus press briefing, Health Secretary Matt Hancock urged Britons to stick to social distancing measures despite increasingly warm weather, saying that Britain can not afford to relax these measures now.

"If we do, people will die," he said, "This is an instruction: Stay at home, protect lives, then you will be doing your part."

Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, deputy chief medical officer for England, said the government has been emphasizing that it is making great efforts to provide personal protective equipment, including facemasks, to frontline workers.
Meanwhile, the government is actively searching for effective treatments, and trials are already running, he said.

Asked whether people in Britain should be wearing face masks, Van-Tam insisted that there is no evidence that general wearing of face masks by the public who are well stops the spread of COVID-19, and the British government "do not recommend face masks for general wearing."

''What matters now is social distancing," he added.

On Friday, London's new emergency field hospital, built with military help in just nine days, opened its doors to await its first COVID-19 patient as the crisis continues to escalate in the country.

The Nightingale Hospital, named after Britain's most famous nurse Florence Nightingale, accommodates up to 4,000 beds at London's Excel center. The National Health Service (NHS) announced a further two Nightingale hospitals will be built in Bristol and Harrogate, along with others in Manchester and Birmingham.

Hancock said at the press briefing that there will be two more Nightingale Hospitals, with one in Bristol offering up to 1,000 beds, and the other in Harrogate having the capacity of 500 beds.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has remained in self-isolation after contracting the virus, said Friday on Twitter: "This country has made a huge effort, a huge sacrifice, done absolutely brilliantly well in delaying the spread of the virus."

The prime minister also gave an update on his own health. "Although I am feeling better and I have done my seven days of isolation, I still have one of the symptoms, a minor symptom. I still have a temperature," he said.
To boost morale, Queen Elizabeth II will address the nation about the pandemic in a televised broadcast on Sunday, Buckingham Palace said in a message.

During Thursday's Downing Street coronavirus daily briefing, NHS England Medical Director Stephen Powis said it may take "a few weeks" before the number of deaths in Britain begin to decrease. 

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.