LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s COVID-19 death toll neared 10,000 on Saturday after health officials reported another 917 hospital deaths, while one senior minister said Prime Minister Boris Johnson will need time off as he recovers from being seriously ill with the virus.
Britain has now reported 9,875 deaths from the coronavirus pandemic, the fifth highest national number globally. Saturday’s increase was the second day running that the number of deaths had increased by more than 900.
Almost 80,000 people in Britain have tested positive for the virus, among them Johnson, who is in the early stages of recovery on a hospital ward after spending three nights in intensive care.
Downing Street said Johnson “continues to make very good progress”, but interior minister Priti Patel said it was vital he took time to fully recover.
“The message to the prime minister is that we want him to get better and he needs some time and some space to rest, recuperate and recover,” Patel said.
“And the whole of cabinet would support that message,” she told a news conference in Downing Street.
Foreign minister Dominic Raab is currently deputising for the prime minister.
Johnson’s o