The toll due to the coronavirus continues to climb in the United Kingdom. The country has registered an additional 980 deaths in the past twenty-four hours, a new record bringing the total toll to 8,958 deaths, Health Minister Matt Hancock announced on Friday April 10.

The Minister once again urged the British to respect confinement and to stay at home, despite the good weather during Easter weekend, in order to limit the spread of the virus in the country, one of the hardest hit in Europe.

"As hot as the weather is, as tempting as your park or your beach, everyone must stay at home," he said. "Because in hospitals across the country, public health workers are fighting around the clock to allow desperately sick people to breathe."

Boris Johnson started walking again

Rare positive note in this gloomy picture, Boris Johnson, 55, convalescent of Covid-19 in a hospital in central London, began to take a few steps after his release from intensive care on Thursday.

"The Prime Minister has been able to walk a bit, between rest periods, as part of the care he receives to help him recover," said a spokesperson.

"His morale remains very good," he said previously, adding that he was in the "initial phase" of his recovery and that his return to executive command would depend on "the opinion of his medical team" .

Boris Johnson is the only high-powered head of government to date to have been infected with the virus. He had been hospitalized on Sunday, the day before he was admitted to intensive care, due to persistent symptoms of the illness, including fever. He received oxygen treatment but was not placed on a respirator.

It is the head of diplomacy, Dominic Raab, who ensures the interim in his absence.

His government had warned on Thursday that preparations had to be made for an extension of the confinement, which is expected to last three weeks until Monday, even if a formal decision is not expected until after this deadline, towards the end of the next week.

With AFP

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