United Kingdom

LONDON (Reuters) - Doctors and nurses treating patients with COVID-19 in Britain are putting their lives at risk because of a lack of protective kit for frontline staff, their unions have warned.

The British government has faced repeated criticism from National Health Service (NHS) staff that doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers were facing shortages of masks, gloves and other personal protective equipment (PPE).

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was moved out of intensive care Thursday at the London hospital where he is being treated for the new coronavirus, as his government told Britons to prepare for several more weeks in lockdown.

Johnson had been in the ICU at St. Thomas’ Hospital since Monday after his symptoms of COVID-19 worsened.

Johnson’s office said he was “moved this evening from intensive care back to the ward, where he will receive close monitoring during the early phase of his recovery.”

It said Johnson was in “extremely good spirits.”

LONDON (Reuters) - Home rental firm Airbnb blocked British bookings on its platform for the vast majority of customers on Thursday, allowing only key workers to stay in properties for as long as emergency government coronavirus restrictions are in place.

The move, first reported by Reuters, comes after hosts using the site had been criticised for advertising “isolation retreats”, with tourism minister Nigel Huddleston saying that property owners were being “incredibly irresponsible”.

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was getting better on Thursday in intensive care where he is battling COVID-19 as his government extended its bank overdraft facility and reviewed the most stringent shutdown in peacetime history.

Johnson, 55, was admitted to St Thomas’ hospital on Sunday evening with a persistent high temperature and cough and was rushed to intensive care on Monday. He has received oxygen support but not been put on a ventilator.

LONDON, April 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A British lorry driver on Wednesday pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of 39 people found dead in a refrigerated truck in southeast England.

Northern Ireland man Maurice Robinson, 25, was arrested shortly after the bodies of 31 men and eight women from Vietnam were discovered in the truck in an industrial zone in Grays, east of London, in October.

The lorry arrived on a ferry from the Belgian port of Zeebrugge in the early hours of Oct 23, carrying the victims, who included two 15-year-old boys.

LONDON, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The death toll of those hospitalized in Britain who tested positive for the novel coronavirus reached 7,097 as of Tuesday afternoon, a record daily increase of 938 since the outbreak began, the Department of Health and Social Care said Wednesday.

As of Wednesday morning, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Britain hit 60,733, up 5,492 in the past 24 hours, said the department.

LONDON, April 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Deprived of customers such as supermarkets, restaurants and schools due to the coronavirus outbreak and resulting lockdown, British farmers are throwing away thousands of litres of milk.

Coffee shops and office blocks, also shut because of COVID-19, are no longer receiving their early morning deliveries, although there has been a hike in the amount of milk being dropped off at people’s homes in time for breakfast, according to the publication FarmingUK.

LONDON, April 7 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is spending a second night in intensive care in hospital, where he is being treated for COVID-19, and he is in "stable" condition, a Downing Street spokesman said on Tuesday night.

The prime minister was moved to intensive care at St Thomas' Hospital in London on Monday night following a worsening of symptoms. He has received oxygen treatment but has not required a ventilator so far.

London, Apr 7 (PTI) British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was in hospital due to persistent coronavirus symptoms, has been shifted to the intensive care unit after his coronavirus symptoms "worsened", Downing Street has said.

Johnson, 55, asked UK foreign secretary Dominic Raab to deputise for him as he was moved on Monday to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at St Thomas' Hospital in London, a move Downing Street said was a precaution should he require ventilation to aid his recovery.

LONDON, April 7 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is not on a ventilator but has had some oxygen support, said Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove on Tuesday.

"He's not on a ventilator no ... The prime minister has received some oxygen support and he is kept under, of course, close supervision," Gove told the London-based LBC radio, adding that if Johnson's condition changes the government will make an official statement.

Johnson was taken to intensive care on Monday night after his coronavirus symptoms worsened, Downing Street said.