Johnson Wants 750,000 NHS Volunteers As CEO Says London Hospitals Struggling With COVID-19

Faizan Hashmi Published March 26, 2020 | 10:06 PM

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson hopes that a total of 750,000 people will register to become volunteers for the National Health Service (NHS) during the COVID-19 outbreak, national media reported on Thursday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th March, 2020) UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson hopes that a total of 750,000 people will register to become volunteers for the National Health Service (NHS) during the COVID-19 outbreak, national media reported on Thursday, after a leading NHS official told the UK's state broadcaster earlier in the day that London's hospitals are struggling to cope as the number of positive tests for the disease rise.

According to The Guardian newspaper, a spokesman for the prime minister said that the target for NHS volunteers, which initially stood at 250,000 people when the scheme was announced on Tuesday, has now risen to 750,000.

During a press briefing on Wednesday evening, Johnson praised over 405,000 people who had registered in the first 24 hours of the scheme to conduct vital community care, such as delivering medicine to patients at home or phoning people who are in self-isolation.

Efforts to help the NHS cope with the strain of caring for patients who have tested positive for COVID-19 are necessary according to Chris Hopson, the chief executive of NHS Providers, the organization that manages all the regional NHS trusts.

During an appearance on BBC Radio 4's Today program, Hopson said that London's hospitals were struggling to cope amid the health crisis.

"They are saying it's the number arriving and the speed with which they are arriving and how ill they are. They talk about wave after wave after wave. The words that are used to me are that it's a continuous tsunami," Hopson remarked.

As of 09:00 GMT on Wednesday, the UK Department of Health and Social Care has confirmed 9,529 cases of COVID-19 since the outbreak began, with 463 deaths. In the preceding 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases rose by 1,452.