Confirmed COVID-19 cases exceed 22,000 in UK
People walk along an empty street near an electronic sign thanking Britain's NHS workers for their efforts, in Leeds, northern England, on March 30.
A total of 22,141 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in Britain as of Monday morning, marking an increase of 2,619 in the past 24 hours, according to the Department of Health and Social Care.
As of Sunday afternoon, 1,408 patients who tested positive for COVID-19 have died, said the department.
During Downing Street's daily novel coronavirus press briefing on Monday, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the government is taking "unprecedented action" to increase National Health Service capacity by ramping up the number of beds and staff.
Britain is pledging 75 million pounds (US$93 million) to get Britons stranded abroad home by chartering rescue flights when there are very limited commercial routes available, said Raab.
The move came as the government is facing mounting pressure to do more to get stranded citizens back home.
Up to a million Britons are thought to be stranded across the world as airlines and borders shut down in a bid to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Sky News.
Also on Monday, Britain's Prince Charles ended self-isolation following his diagnosis of COVID-19.
"Having consulted with his doctor, the Prince of Wales is now out of self-isolation," said a spokesman of Clarence House, the official residence of Charles and his wife Duchess of Cornwall Camilla.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Boris Johnson's chief adviser Dominic Cummings is in self-isolation after showing coronavirus symptoms, according to a Sky News report.
