Published 18:43 IST, March 26th 2020
UK: 500,000 sign up to be health service volunteers amid COVID-19 pandemic
500,000 volunteers have signed up to support the NHS, helping vulnerable people in the UK who have been told to stay at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- World News
- 3 min read
More than 500,000 volunteers have signed up to support the NHS in helping vulnerable people who have been told not to leave their homes during the coronavirus crisis, as the UK death toll hit 465. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said while addressing the issue in a press conference that the UK government is coping very well indeed under the most challenging possible circumstances and that they are massively ramping up testing.
Volunteering in Government Scheme
Nearly five people per second enlisted in the government’s new volunteering scheme in the hours after the health secretary, Matt Hancock, launched a call on March 24 for 250,000 people in England to help bolster the NHS response to the Covid-19 pandemic. About 11,000 former medics have also agreed to return to the health service and more than 24,000 final year student nurses and medics will join them.
Overnight the number of volunteers who had pledged support topped 170,000, and as the day went on the target was smashed. Johnson opened up about the same in a press conference and said that the stats are already, in one day and as many people as the population of Coventry are joining hands to save the country. The figure now stands at 504,303. The overwhelming response has prompted the NHS to extend its target to recruit 750,000 volunteers in total. Those volunteers who have already signed up will start next week.
As the coronavirus death toll in the UK rose to 422 people as of 10 am on March 25, the government called on fit and healthy adults to deliver vital supplies such as food and medicines to up to 1.5 million vulnerable people, drive them home after being discharged from hospital and make regular phone calls to those in self-isolation.
Meanwhile, the Prince of Wales tested positive for Covid-19. Clarence House announced that Prince Charles, 71, is self-isolating at home in Scotland with his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, 72, who does not have the virus. As per the reports, a statement issued from the Clarence House read that it is not possible to know who he had caught it from due to a high number of engagements in recent weeks.
Figures released from NHS England show there were 28 deaths over the latest recorded 24-hour period, bringing the death toll in England to 414. There have also been 22 deaths so far in Scotland, 22 in Wales and seven in Northern Ireland, according to the latest available figures. The government scheme to recruit 250,000 helpers - who must be over 18 and in good health - went live on March 24.
Updated 18:34 IST, March 26th 2020