After shaming foreign media's Covid coverage, BJP's Patra hails UK PM Johnson's discharge

United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Sunday vowed that Britain "will defeat" the deadly coronavirus, soon after he was discharged from hospital following week-long intensive care treatment for the disease that has killed over 10,000 people in the country. Responding to Johnson's video message, BJP National Spokesperson Sambit Patra said that it is "great to have a world leader back at the helm."

'Great to have a world leader back at helm'

Earlier in the day, appearing on Republic, Sambit Patra had shamed foreign media for being negative about India's Covid battle, while India was attempting to help all and sundry:

In a video message recorded to mark his discharge as well as Easter Sunday, the 55-year-old leader said that the UK "will defeat this coronavirus and defeat it together".

'Stay at home, protect our NHS- and save lives'

He said, "I have today left hospital after a week in which the NHS (National Health Service) has saved my life, no question. It's hard to find the words to express my debt. And the reason, in the end, my body did start to get enough oxygen was because for every second of the night they (NHS doctors and nurses) were watching and they were thinking and they were caring and making the interventions I needed".

Johnson name-checked a number of the utterly brilliant doctors and nurses for their care during his week-long hospitalisation and stressed that the UK will win the national battle against Coronavirus because the NHS is the beating heart of this country. 

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"It is the best of this country. It is unconquerable. It is powered by love. So thank you from me, and from all of us, to the NHS, and let's remember to follow the rules on social distancing. Stay at home, protect our NHS - and save lives," he said.

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The news of Johnson's discharge came as the COVID-19 death toll in the UK crossed the 10,000 mark on Sunday, to hit a total of 10,612 after a daily hike of 737 deaths.

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Meanwhile, with 918 new positive COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the total number of Coronavirus cases in India on Sunday climbed to 8,447, including 764 cured. The death toll meanwhile climbed to 273 as 31 more persons succumbed to the infection, government data on Sunday showed.

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(With PTI inputs)