British PM makes first public appearance after recovering from coronavirus

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has made his first public appearance on Monday since being hospitalised for three weeks after testing positive for COVID-19, saying Britain was beginning to change on the outbreak but rejecting growing calls to ease a nationwide lock down.

He commended the British people for obeying the one month stay-at-home orders, which have assisted in reducing the spread of COVID-19, however, more than 20,000 lives have already been lost due to the virus.

In a statement in Downing Street marking his return to work, looking thinner and with his trademark blond hair a little longer, Johnson apologised for being away “for much longer than I would have liked”.

Their efforts had ensured the state-run National Health Service was not overwhelmed, “and that is how and why we are now beginning to turn the tide”, Johnson said.

Johnson pledged on March 19 that Britain could “turn the tide on coronavirus within 12 weeks” but only if people adhere to the measure to curb the virus.

But while acknowledging the concerns of many businesses and increasing numbers of MPs in his own Conservative party about the economic toll, Johnson warned that now was not the time to ease the lockdown.

“I know it is tough and I want to get this economy moving as fast as I can,” the prime minister said.

“But I refuse to throw away all the effort and the sacrifice of the British people and to risk a second major outbreak, a huge loss of life and the overwhelming of the NHS.”