LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson left the hospital after recovery from COVID-19 and he expressed gratitude to the staff of the National Health Service for saving his life, while the UK on Sunday became the fourth European country to surpass 10,000 virus-related deaths.
British Premier Boris Johnson said in a video message posted on Twitter after he was discharged from St. Thomas’ Hospital that it was “hard to find the words” to express his debt of gratitude to the NHS for saving his life “no question.”
He listed a number of the front line staff who cared for him during his week-long stay at St. Thomas’ Hospital in London but singled out two nurses who stood by his bedside for 48 hours “when things could have gone either way.”
Government figures reported Sunday confirmed that the UK became the fourth European country after Italy, Spain and France to reach the grim milestone of 10,000 virus-related deaths.
The government said another 737 people who tested positive for coronavirus had died, taking the total number of virus deaths recorded in the U.K. to 10,612. The figure reported Sunday represented a second straight daily decline in the number of reported deaths, although the lower figures may be a result of delays to do with the Easter weekend. The continent has over 74,000 reported coronavirus deaths.
British Prime Minister Johnson’s office said in a statement that he would continue his recovery at Chequers, the prime minister’s country house.
“On the advice of his medical team, the PM will not be immediately returning to work,” the statement said. “He wishes to thank everybody at St. Thomas’ for the brilliant care he has received.”
Johnson had been in the hospital for a week and spent three nights in the intensive care unit.
Johnson, 55, was the first world leader confirmed to have the illness. His symptoms, including a cough and a fever, at first were described as mild, and he worked from home during the first few days of self-isolation.
But he was admitted to St. Thomas’ on April 5 after his condition worsened. He was transferred the following day to the intensive care unit, where he received oxygen but was not put onto a ventilator. Johnson spent three nights in the ICU before moving back to a regular hospital ward.
While Johnson convalesces, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is handling the nation’s response to the pandemic that has infected at least 1.79 million worldwide and killed 110,000 people. Experts say those numbers seriously understate the impact of the pandemic, due to limited testing and different ways of counting the dead.
Britain has been in effective lockdown since March 23 and the government will extend the restrictions later this week.
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