London (AFP)

The British government urged the public on Friday to respect containment despite the good weather of Easter weekend after a record daily report of nearly 1,000 deaths showing the worsening of the pandemic which has reached the Prime Minister, recovering from hospital.

A total of 8,958 patients suffering from the new coronavirus died in hospital, according to a daily report announced by the Minister of Health Matt Hancock.

He once again urged the British to respect confinement and stay at home despite a long sunny 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."

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" .

- Towards prolonged confinement -

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

"We are starting to see the benefits of this social distancing," Stephen Powis, medical director of England's public health service, told the BBC on Friday.

"We think the virus is spreading less," he added, but "it is too early" to relax, for fear of a new wave of contagion when the peak of the disease has not yet occurred. been crossed.

The prospect of prolonged confinement, however, also worries health authorities, according to The Telegraph. Their leader Chris Whitty believes that it could have devastating effects, such as an impoverishment of society, regular care put in parentheses, fewer children vaccinated, more depression or suicide.

In the long term, the number of deaths that could indirectly result from confinement is estimated at 150,000, more than those caused by the Covid-19, the daily said.

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.

"He must rest. (...) I don't think you can say he is out of the woods," Prime Minister Stanley Johnson's father said on Friday on the BBC.

"He has to take the time. I can't believe you get out of it and go straight back to Downing Street and take over the reins without a period of readjustment," he added.

Tom Wingfield of the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Liverpool says "close monitoring" at the hospital involves "regular measurement of vital signs, such as blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate and oxygen saturation" .

"Each patient is different and the time it takes to be fit enough to be able to get out of the hospital or fully recover can vary greatly," he added.

© 2020 AFP