More than 170,000 volunteer to help UK fight coronavirus

Mar 25, 2020

This article was originally published by Reuters.

A volunteer at the North Enfield Foodbank Charity packs a bag of groceries and other household items for distribution in Enfield as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in London, Britain March 24, 2020.

A volunteer at the North Enfield Foodbank Charity packs a bag of groceries and other household items for distribution in Enfield. Image: REUTERS/John Sibley

Reuters Staff

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Just hours after a request for a quarter of a million volunteers, more than 170,000 people have signed up to help Britain’s National Health Service.
They will help to deliver food and medicines, provide transport for patients and supplies.

More than 170,000 people have signed up to help Britain’s National Health Service tackle the coronavirus outbreak just hours after a request for a quarter of a million volunteers.

“At times of crisis people come together,” Stephen Powis, the national medical director of NHS England, told BBC TV. “This is a health emergency and we can all play a role.”

Britain had called for 250,000 volunteers to deliver food and medicines, provide transport for patients and supplies, and to telephone those who are becoming lonely because of self isolation.

The system aims to reach up to 1.5 million people who are “shielding” - keeping themselves at home for 12 weeks under government advice to protect those with serious health conditions.

The death toll from coronavirus in the United Kingdom jumped on Tuesday by 87 to a total of 422 - the biggest daily increase since the crisis began.

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