Boris Johnson, discharged from hospital, thanks NHS staff

London

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he owed his life to hospital staff, in his first comments since leaving intensive care for coronavirus treatment, while his government came under mounting pressure to explain why the death toll was rising so fast.

Mr Johnson, 55, was taken to St Thomas's Hospital in central London on April 5, suffering from persistent symptoms of the disease caused by the new coronavirus. On April 6, he was moved into intensive care, where he remained until April 9.

"I can't thank them enough. I owe them my life," Mr Johnson said of the staff of Britain's state-run National Health Service at the hospital, in his first comments since being moved back to a regular ward. The comments were released to journalists and confirmed by his office on Sunday. His Downing Street office said Mr Johnson "continues to make very good progress". He has left hospital on Sunday to convalesce at Chequers, the country estate of British prime ministers.

In a sign of the gravity of the emergency, Queen Elizabeth issued her second rallying message in a week, telling the nation that "coronavirus will not overcome us".

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, spiritual leader of the worldwide Anglican communion, delivered an Easter Sunday sermon from the kitchen of his London flat, recorded on his computer tablet.

The UK Parliament will return on April 21 and may do so virtually as the government grapples with the coronavirus pandemic that's caused almost 10,000 deaths and brought large swathes of the economy to a standstill. House of Commons authorities will consider how to use technology to best allow lawmakers to fulfill "essential constitutional functions of conducting scrutiny, authorising spending and making laws," the government said on Sunday in a statement.

Britain has reported two days in a row of hospital deaths increasing by more than 900 people. Friday's death toll of 980 surpassed the highest recorded in a single day in Italy, the hardest hit country in Europe so far.

The British government has had to defend its response, which has included carrying out far less testing than in some other European countries and ordering a lockdown that came comparatively late. Ministers have also resisted apologising for a shortage of protective gear for hospital staff. REUTERS, BLOOMBERG