Government's plea for 250,000 volunteers to join NHS in coronavirus fight

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has called on 250,000 volunteers to sign up to help the NHS through the coronavirus crisis.

He said the move would boost the government’s ability to protect those most vulnerable to Covid-19, and said it would provide vital support for medics.

He said more than 35,000 extra NHS staff have already joined up to help fight against the virus, including retired doctors and nurses returning to the service and final year students.

During today’s briefing at 10 Downing Street, the Cabinet member warned that the Prime Minister’s lockdown regulations “are not requests, they are rules”.

“The more people follow the rules, the faster we will get through this,” he stated.

Announcing the plans to set up an army of volunteers, he said: “We are seeking a quarter of a million volunteers, people in good health, to help the NHS, for shopping, for delivery of medicines and to support those who are shielded to protect their own health.”

He announced that a new hospital will be opened at the ExCeL Centre in East London.

It will be named the Nightingale Hospital, and is set to take its first patients next week.

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The temporary hospital will have two wards for 2,000 people, and medics will be assisted by the military, the Health Secretary stated.

Mr Hancock said a call for people to return to the NHS has been “incredibly successful”, with 11,788 people responding.

He also said he could see “no reason” why there would be so few trains operating on the London Tube network – amid fears workers were being in put in danger by crowding.

The Cabinet minister also said the government would be “ramping up” testing, and 7.5million pieces of protective equipment had been shipped to frontline medics.

“It’s a military effort to get these pieces of kit to them,” Mr Hancock said.

Mr Hancock said: “We will, next week, open a new hospital – a temporary hospital – the NHS Nightingale Hospital at the Excel centre in London.

“The NHS Nightingale Hospital will comprise two wards, each of 2,000 people.

“With the help of the military and with NHS clinicians we will make sure that we have the capacity that we need so that everyone can get the support that they need.”

Dr Jenny Harries, the Deputy Chief Medical Officer, called on workers to raise concerns with their employer if they feel uncomfortable with measures to protect them.

Mr Hancock said construction workers could continue to go to work as long as they could remain two metres apart at all times.

The Cabinet minister said: “The judgment we have made is that in work, in many instances, the two-metre rule can be applied.

“In my work place, in the House of Commons, you can see it every day.

“Where possible, people should work from home and employers have a duty to ensure that people are more than two metres apart.

“The principles of what we are trying to achieve is to keep people apart to slow the spread.

“The more people follow the rules, the faster we will all get through this.”

It comes as the government announced that the number of coronavirus deaths in the UK has risen to 422, officials have confirmed.

It is an increase of 87 in just 24 hours.

The overall number of confirmed cases has now risen to 8,077 as of 1pm today, the NHS said.

It comes after Boris Johnson yesterday announced unprecedented measures to bring the virus under control.

Police will have the power to enforce the strict new measures with fines, Boris Johnson said in a historic public address.

People are now only allowed to leave their homes for four reasons, with events such as weddings and baptisms banned, Mr Johnson said.

The four reasons you can now leave your home are:

• shopping for basic necessities, as infrequently as possible
• one form of exercise a day – for example a run, walk, or cycle – alone or with members of your household
• any medical need, to provide care or to help a vulnerable person
• travelling to and from work, but only where this is absolutely necessary and cannot be done from home

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Mr Johnson said yesterday: “You should not be going shopping except for essentials like food and medicine — and you should do this as little as you can.

“And use food delivery services where you can.”

He added: “If you don’t follow the rules the police will have the powers to enforce them, including through fines and dispersing gatherings.”