Photo taken on April 3, 2020 shows a notice on the floor outside a supermarket reminding customers to keep a social distance while queueing in London, Britain.(Xinhua/Han Yan)
Britain's Health Secretary Matt Hancock on Saturday launched a new Coronavirus Status Checker that will help the National Health Service coordinate its response and build up additional data on the COVID-19 outbreak.
LONDON, April 4 (Xinhua) -- The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Britain reached 41,903 as of Saturday morning, an increase of 3,735 in the past 24 hours, according to the lastest figure from the Department of Health and Social Care.
As of Friday afternoon, of those hospitalized in Britain who tested positive for coronavirus, 4,313 have died, marking a record daily rise of 708, the figure from the department showed.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock on Saturday launched a new Coronavirus Status Checker that will help the National Health Service (NHS) coordinate its response and build up additional data on the COVID-19 outbreak.
A tester takes a sample from a National Health Service (NHS) staff to test for possible COVID-19 infection at a drive-through test station set up in the parking lot of an IKEA store in Wembley, northwest London, Britain, March 31, 2020.(Photo by Ray Tang/Xinhua)
"Technology and data is playing a vital role in battling coronavirus and supporting our heroic NHS frontline workers to save lives, protect the vulnerable, and relive pressure on the NHS," Hancock said.
"We must learn as much as possible about this virus, and we are asking the whole nation to join this effort," he added.
People with potential coronavirus symptoms are now being asked to complete the status checker and answer a short series of questions which will tell the NHS about their experience.
Photo taken on April 3, 2020 shows messages urging people to stay at home to help the National Health Service (NHS) save lives in London, Britain. (Xinhua/Han Yan)
It is open to anyone in Britain to use on the NHS website and in its initial phase the NHS is particularly keen for anyone who thinks they may be displaying potential coronavirus symptoms, no matter how mild, to complete it, the health department said in a statement.
During Friday's coronavirus press briefing, Hancock urged Britons to stick to social distancing measures despite increasingly warm weather, saying that Britain can not afford to relax these measures now.
"If we do, people will die," he said, "This is an instruction: Stay at home, protect lives, then you will be doing your part."■
