Having tested positive for the coronavirus and pending three nights in intensive care Boris Johnson has been released from hospital and has thanked health care workers for saving his life.

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been discharged from St. Thomas' Hospital, in London, on Easter Sunday, where he was treated for COVID-19. On Easter Monday the United Kingdom reported 10,612 deaths due to coronavirus. 

Johnson is continuing to recover from his illness at Chequers, the Prime Minister's country home. 

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A statement released by 10 Downing Street read “On the advice of his medical team, the PM will not be immediately returning to work... He wishes to thank everybody at St. Thomas’ for the brilliant care he has received.”

The Prime Minister spent three nights in intensive care but did not need the use of a ventilator. 

On Thursday night Johnson released a statement praising the National Health Service. 

He said “I can’t thank them enough... I owe them my life.”

While the Prime Minister recovers he has asked Britain's Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to handle the country's response to the coronavirus pandemic. So far, the United Kingdom has recorded 84,279 cases of the virus, that figure has increased by 5,288 in the last 24 hours. 

The United Kingdom has been in lockdown since March 23. It is expected that the British government will extend these restrictions later this week. 

The United Kingdom is now the fifth-worst affected country in Europe after Spain, Italy, Germany, and France. The United States is now the epicenter of the pandemic with 556,791 cases recorded. 

While the number of new cases and hospitalizations appears to have plateaued in Britain, deaths are still rising.

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Related: City of London, Prime Minister