UK PM Boris Johnson discharged from hospital, says Britain 'will defeat' coronavirus
London: Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Sunday vowed that Britain "will defeat" the deadly coronavirus, soon after he was discharged from hospital following week-long intensive care treatment for the disease that has killed over 10,000 people in the country.
Downing Street said that Johnson left St. Thomas' Hospital in London and will head to his prime ministerial residence of Chequers in Buckinghamshire, south east England.
In a video message recorded to mark his discharge as well as Easter Sunday, the 55-year-old leader said that the UK "will defeat this coronavirus and defeat it together".
He said: I have today left hospital after a week in which the NHS (National Health Service) has saved my life, no question. It's hard to find the words to express my debt.
"And the reason in the end my body did start to get enough oxygen was because for every second of the night they (NHS doctors and nurses) were watching and they were thinking and they were caring and making the interventions I needed".
Johnson name-checked a number of the utterly brilliant doctors and nurses for their care during his week-long hospitalisation and stressed that the UK will win the national battle against coronavirus because the NHS is the beating heart of this country .
It is the best of this country. It is unconquerable. It is powered by love. So thank you from me, and from all of us, to the NHS, and let's remember to follow the rules on social distancing. Stay at home, protect our NHS - and save lives, he said.
As he wished the British public a Happy Easter, Johnson also expressed his thanks to the many millions and millions of people across this country doing the right thing and going through the hardship of self-isolation.
He said: I want you to know that this Easter Sunday I do believe that your efforts are worth it, and are daily proving their worth.
Because although we mourn every day those who are taken from us in such numbers, and though the struggle is by no means over, we are now making progress in this incredible national battle against coronavirus.
A fight we never picked against an enemy we still don't entirely understand".
Earlier, Downing Street said that on the advice of his medical team, Johnson will not be returning to work immediately, with Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to continue deputising as he recuperates. The PM has been discharged from hospital to continue his recovery, at Chequers, a Downing Street spokesperson said.
He wishes to thank everybody at St Thomas' for the brilliant care he has received. All of his thoughts are with those affected by this illness, the spokesperson said.
Previously, in his first public statement since being moved out of intensive care at St. Thomas' Hospital in London, the UK prime minister said: I can't thank them enough, I owe them my life.
The news of Johnson's discharge came as the COVID-19 death toll in the UK crossed the 10,000 mark on Sunday, to hit a total of 10,612 after a daily hike of 737 deaths.
Johnson, who completed a week in hospital on Sunday after being shifted there with persistent COVID-19 symptoms, had been making very good progress while on the hospital ward. He was able to take short walks as his doctors monitored his recovery after being moved out of intensive care and was watching films and doing puzzles in his hospital bed.
Johnson's fianc e Carrie Symonds, who is pregnant with their first child, is said to have sent him letters and baby scans to lift his spirits during his time in hospital. Thousands of get-well cards have also poured in for him since he went into self-isolation after testing positive for coronavirus over two weeks ago.
Asked about plans for his return to work, UK Home Secretary Priti Patel said on Saturday that Johnson needed "time and space to rest, recuperate and recover".
The Indian-origin Cabinet minister, who led the daily Downing Street update on the pandemic, has urged people to stay at home over the Easter weekend to curb the spread of the virus, despite warm and sunny weather across parts of the UK.
We have given the police powers to enforce the necessary measures we have put in place, including through enforcement fines," said Patel.
"If you don't play your part... our selfless police will be unafraid to act. You will be endangering the lives of your own family, friends and loved ones," she said.
Meanwhile, an Easter message posted on the official 10 Downing Street Twitter account on behalf of the UK prime minister also urged people to stay at home to save lives.
It reads: Wishing everyone a very happy Easter from Downing Street.
This year across the country churches will remain closed, and families will spend the day apart. But by staying home, remember, you are protecting the NHS and saving lives.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
UN: India calls on international community to act together against ISIS, Al Qaeda
United Nations (PTI): India has called on the international community to act together against ISIS and Al Qaeda and their proxies, underlining that terrorism is an “existential threat” to international peace and security.
“Terrorism is an existential threat to international peace and security. It knows no borders, nationality, or race, and is a challenge that the international community must combat collectively,” First Secretary in the Permanent Mission of India to the UN Raghoo Puri said on Wednesday.
In remarks to the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) annual ambassadorial level briefing to Member States, Puri recalled the April 2025 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, carried out by The Resistance Front, a proxy of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, a UN listed terror organisation. The terror attack led to the loss of lives of 26 tourists.
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“We must act together against ISIS and Al Qaeda and their proxies,” he said, adding that as a country which itself has been a victim of cross-border terrorism for the past nearly three decades, “India is acutely aware of the socio-economic and human cost of terrorism, especially for its victims.”
India added its voice in stressing on the importance of the Global Counter Terrorism Strategy (GCTS) as a central instrument for multilateral cooperation.
Puri said India will remain steadfast and engaged in the consultations for the 9th review of the GCTS, assuring full cooperation to co-facilitators Finland and Morocco during negotiations in the process.
Puri also highlighted that as Chair of the Counter Terrorism Committee in 2022, India has striven to bring these principles into the counter-terrorism architecture of the UN and into the debate on terrorism at the United Nations.
“Our follow up initiatives both in New York and around the world stand testimony to our commitment,” including the ‘Delhi Declaration’ - a landmark document to deal with the issue of countering the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes, an issue Puri said is of acute importance for several Member States.
In October 2022, the Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC), chaired by India that year, had organised a special meeting in New Delhi and Mumbai on the overarching theme of ‘Countering the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes’.
As an outcome of the special meeting, the committee had adopted the ‘Delhi Declaration’ on countering the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes.
India continues to work closely with the UN via its various entities to build capacity and make its partners future ready to take on the ever-evolving scourge of terrorism, he said.
