New 4,000-bed field hospital opens in London
LONDON: Britain on Friday opened a new 4,000-bed temporary hospital to treat the most seriously ill coronavirus patients, as day-on-day deaths surged to a new record and royal officials said Queen Elizabeth II would make a rare crisis address to the nation. Heir to the throne Prince Charles opened the staterun National Health Service (NHS) Nightingale Hospital, which has been built at London’s ExCeL conference venue in just nine days. The 71-year-old prince officially launched the facility via videolink from Scotland, where he has been in self-isolation after testing positive for COVID-19.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, 55, who has also tested positive, said he would remain at home in quarantine because he still had a temperature. Charles and Johnson are among 38,168 confirmed coronavirus cases across Britain. Numbers increased by 4,450 in the 24 hours to 0800 GMT on Friday, according to the health ministry. There was also a third consecutive day of record deaths from confirmed hospital cases - 684 - taking the overall toll to 3,605 as of 1600 GMT on Thursday. Two NHS nurses and two healthcare assistants were among the fatalities in the last 24 hours, Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who has also tested positive for COVID-19, told a daily briefing. Chief Nursing Officer for England Ruth May added: “I worry that there’s going to be more. I want to honor them today and recognize their service.” The announcement of the new figures coincided with news the queen would make a rare special broadcast to Britain and the Commonwealth at 1900 GMT on Sunday.
The queen, 93, has made only three other special addresses in her 68-year reign: after her mother’s death in 2002; before Diana, Princess of Wales’ funeral in 1997; and during the first Gulf War in 1991. She has been with her 98-year-old husband Prince Philip at Windsor, west of London, since March 19 as a precaution but palace officials have said the couple were in “good health”.
The NHS Nightingale Hospital is named after the trailblazing 19th-century nurse Florence Nightingale, who is seen as one of the founders of modern nursing.