Boris Johnson to return to work

Britain’s prime minister Boris Johnson will return to work at the start of this week, according to reports yesterday just hours after it was announced that the UK’s coronavirus death toll had passed the “tragic” milestone of 20 000.

The Press Association said Johnson would be back in his Downing Street office today after himself recovering from the virus.

A Number 10 source quoted by Sky News said the 55-year-old was “raring to go”. Johnson has been recuperating at the British prime ministerial retreat, Chequers, outside London since his release from hospital on April 12

Johnson spent three days in intensive care and later admitted “things could have gone either way”, after contracting the virus.

The prime minister’s return to work comes as pressure intensifies on his government on several fronts over its handling of the crisis.

Health department figures released Saturday showed a further 813 people had died in hospital after contracting Covid-19, pushing the official number of fatalities to 20 319.

Home Secretary Priti Patel described it as “a deeply tragic and moving moment”.

Passing 20 000 was an unwanted milestone, as the medical director of NHS England Stephen Powis and Britain’s chief scientific advisor Patrick Vallance had said previously during the pandemic that keeping the number of fatalities below 20 000 would be “a good outcome”.- AFP.