4,500 Retired British Doctors And Nurses Sign Up To Fight Against COVID-19

• UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced that 4,500 retired doctors and nurses signed-up to assist patients infected by the dreaded coronavirus (COVID-19).
• He said in just 48 hours after his plea, 4,000 nurses and 500 doctors have signed up to render again their services.
• Hancock continues to call on all retired medical professionals to return to National Health Service (NHS) as the United Kingdom continues to need more doctors and nurses in combating the spread of the deadly virus.

An overwhelming 4,500 medical professionals, composed of 4,000 British nurses and 50 doctors, signed up to return to duty and help frontliners in combating the coronavirus (COVID-19) in the United Kingdom. The first batch of volunteers came, 48 hours after health secretary Matt Hancock appealed to all retired nurses and doctors to return to the National Health Service (NHS).

In his Twitter account, Hancock announced that the NHS needed more healthcare providers.

“With coronavirus growing, on Friday we put out the call asking recently retired doctors, nurses, other health professionals, to come back to the NHS to help in this unprecedented crisis…but we need many more…The whole country needs the NHS right now, and if you’re a retired doctor or a retired nurse, then your NHS needs you,” Hancock said in the video he posted.

In another video after his announcement, Hancock again called on all retired nurses and doctors to return to their service, citing that the NHS needs at least 250,000 healthcare providers in “good health” to help them out in “shopping, the delivery of medicines, and to support those who are shielded to protect their own health”.

He further explained the NHS volunteer responder is the U.K.’s new scheme set up so that individuals can volunteer and render services and “to make sure that the NHS and the local services that are needed get all the support that they can”.

Since the outbreak, the NHS staff have been receiving praises for their hard work as healthcare frontliners who are bravely containing the virus.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson launched a #StayHomeSaveLives campaign reminding all citizens to stay at home. According to him, doing so will not only save the lives of the elderly and the vulnerable ones but will also protect their NHS.

“I say to the people who do go against the advice that we’re getting – the very clear advice, from our medical and scientific experts, you’re not only putting your own life, the lives of your family at risk, you’re endangering the community and you’re making it more difficult for us to get on and protect the NHS and save lives,” the Prime Minister said in one of his daily COVID-19 press briefings.

As of posting time, the UK has 22,141 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 1,408 fatalities. So far, 135 patients have recovered from the virus.