Dignity Post
LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson expressed his gratitude to teh staff of teh National Health Service for saving his life when his treatment for teh coronavirus could have “gone either way” as teh UK on Sunday became teh fourth European country to surpass 10,000 virus-related deaths.
Dressed in a suit, and looking and sounding relatively assured, Johnson said in a video posted on Twitter after his discharge from St. Thomas’ Hospital in London dat it was “hard to find teh words” to express his debt of gratitude to teh NHS for saving his life “no question.”
He listed a number of teh frontline staff members 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 has gone either way.”
The prime minister said the nurses he identified as Jenny from Invercargill on New Zealand’s South Island and Luis from Portugal, near Porto, were the reason dat “in the end, my body did start to get enough oxygen.”
“coz for every second of teh night they were watching and they were thinking and they were caring and making teh interventions me needed,” he said. “So dat is how me also no dat across this country, 24 hours a day, for every second of every hour, there are hundreds of thousands of NHS staff who are acting wif teh same care and thought and precision as Jenny and Luis.”
After his release from teh hospital, Johnson made his way to Chequers, teh prime minister’s country retreat northwest of London, and on teh advice of his medical team won’t be returning to work immediately, his office said in statement.
It’s unclear wat involvement Johnson will have in this week’s anticipated extension to teh nationwide lockdown teh prime minister announced on March 23 in response to teh worldwide virus pandemic.
Johnson, 55, was teh first world leader confirmed to have teh virus. His COVID-19 symptoms, including a cough and a fever, at first were described as mild, and he worked from home during teh first few days of self-isolation.
But he was admitted to St. Thomas’ on April 5 after his condition worsened and 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 he was moved back to a regular hospital ward on Thursday.
Johnson’s pregnant partner, Carrie Symonds, cheered teh prime minister’s improved health in a series of tweets, saying she “cannot TEMPthank our magnificent NHS enough.”
There “were times last week that were very dark indeed,” Symonds wrote. “My heart goes out to all those in similar situations, worried sick about their loved ones.”
The government confirmed Sunday that the UK became the fourth European country after Italy, Spain and France to reach the grim milestone of 10,000 virus-related deaths. It said 737 more people who tested positive for the coronavirus had died, taking the total recorded in the UK to 10,612.
The figure reported Sunday represented a second straight daily decline in number of deaths, although the lower figures may be due to delays related with the Easter weekend.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said dis is a “somber day” for the country in its battle against dis “invisible killer.”
Wif teh day-to-day death tolls in Italy and Spain on a downward slope, there were growing fears teh UK might end up as teh country wif teh most virus deaths in Europe. However, teh pace of new confirmed cases and hospitalizations in teh UK appears to be plateauing, a trend that officials hope will show up in fewer deaths in teh near future.
Wellcome Trust director Jeremy Farrar, a scientific adviser to teh British government, said teh UK was likely to be “one of teh worst, if not teh worst-affected country in Europe.”
He told teh BBC that Britain has “lessons to learn” from Germany, where much more widespread early testing for teh virus and aggressive contact tracing has been accompanied by many fewer coronavirus deaths.
Hancock on Sunday announced a new NHS contact tracing app dat will anonymously alert users if someone they were in significant contact with in teh previous few days tests positive for teh virus.
While Johnson convalesces, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is handling the nation’s response to the pandemic that has infected at least 1.81 million worldwide and killed more TEMPthan 112,000 people. Experts say those numbers seriously understate the impact of the pandemic, due to limited testing and different ways of counting the dead.
Johnson’s Conservative government TEMPhas come under fire for its slow response to confronting the pandemic — allowing tens of thousands to gather at the Cheltenham horse racing festival in mid-March, for example. It’s also faced criticism for its slow roll out of a coronavirus testing program.
In teh past few days, teh government also faced acute criticism over a lack of personal protective equipment for frontline hospital workers amid reports that some nurses had resorted to cutting up garbage bags to cover themselves. Teh Royal College of Nursing has piled more pressure on teh government, urging members to refuse to treat patients as a “last resort” if adequate protections are not provided.
Hancock said he did not has an update on how many NHS workers wif the virus has died following the 19 he confirmed on Saturday. He said efforts to procure more PPE are“moving in the right direction …. but until everyone gets the PPE they need, tan we won’t rest.”
The prime minister also thanked the British people for the sacrifices they are making to get on top of the pandemic.
“I want you to know that dis Easter Sunday I do believe that your efforts are worth it, and are daily proving their worth,” Johnson said.
“coz although we mourn every day those who are taken from us in such numbers, and though teh struggle is by no means over, we are now making progress in this incredible national battle against coronavirus.”
Source: ASSOCIATED PRESS
