United Kingdom

06 April 2020; MEMO: The UAE has waived rental and maintenance fees worth millions of dollars for the use of its giant London Excel centre which has been converted into a 4,000-bed emergency hospital amidst the coronavirus outbreak.

As much as $3.68 million a month was initially demanded for the use of the centre owned by Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Co. (adnec). The state-owned company, however, has done a U-turn and is now offering the mass site for free to the NHS.

6 April 2020; AFP: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson spent the night in hospital after being admitted for tests following 10 days of persistent symptoms of coronavirus, but the government insisted Monday he remained in charge.

The Conservative leader announced on March 27 that he had tested positive for COVID-19, and has been self-isolating in his flat above Downing Street ever since.

LONDON, April 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The UK prime minister Boris Johnson has been admitted to hospital for tests after showing persistent symptoms of coronavirus 10 days after testing positive, The Guardian reported.

Quoting a Downing Street spokeswoman, it said the Prime Minister was admitted to the hospital Sunday night following the advice of his doctor.

His hospitalisation comes as a precautionary step, as he had continued to have persistent symptoms of coronavirus 10 days after testing positive for the virus.

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Boris Johnson continues to lead the government, housing minister Robert Jenrick said on Monday after the British leader spent the night in hospital for tests because he was still suffering symptoms of the coronavirus.

“He’s been working extremely hard, leading the government and being constantly updated, that’s going to continue,” Jenrick told BBC TV.

“Obviously today, he’s in hospital having the test but he’ll continue to be kept informed as to what’s happening and to be in charge of the government.”

LONDON, April 5 (Xinhua) -- British Queen Elizabeth II, in a rare broadcast Sunday night, spoke about the coronavirus pandemic and her hope that people will take pride in how they responded to the crisis.

She said better days will return and Britain will succeed in the fight against coronavirus.

In the short speech meant to lift the nation's spirits, the 93-year-old monarch said: "I am speaking to you at what I know is an increasingly challenging time."

London, Apr 5 (AFP/PTI) The coronavirus pandemic is increasing poverty in Britain, where levels are already high after a decade of austerity triggered by the global financial crisis, according to experts.

Official data shows that more than 14 million people in the UK are classed as living in poverty, or nearly one-quarter of the population.

LONDON (Reuters) - UK deaths from the coronavirus could rise to between about 7,000 and 20,000 under measures taken to slow the spread of the virus, Neil Ferguson, a professor at Imperial College in London who has helped shape the government’s response, said on Sunday.

“We had an exponentially growing curve of infections which we interrupted at a certain time,” the epidemiologist told the BBC’s Andrew Marr program.

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Boris Johnson has invited the leaders of Britain’s opposition parties to work with him during this “moment of national emergency”, saying he wants to hear their views during the coronavirus pandemic.

Johnson said he would invite all leaders of Britain’s opposition parties to a briefing next week with the country’s chief medical officer and chief scientific adviser.

“As party leaders we have a duty to work together at this moment of national emergency,” he said.

LONDON (Reuters) - Keir Starmer was elected as the leader of Britain’s main opposition Labour Party on Saturday, pledging to bring an end to years of bitter infighting and to work with the government to contain the raging coronavirus pandemic.

Starmer, a former director of public prosecutions who was known for a forensic attention to detail when opposing the country’s exit from the European Union, won with 56% of the vote.

LONDON, April 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was remaining in isolation with mild symptoms of COVID-19, including a high temperature, seven days after he first tested positive for the new coronavirus which causes respiratory disease.

“Although I’m feeling better and I’ve done my seven days of isolation, alas I still have one of the symptoms, a minor symptom, I still have a temperature,” a weary-looking Johnson, sitting in a chair with his shirt open at the neck, said in a Twitter video message.