UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been discharged from St Thomas’ hospital in London after a week that saw him spend three days in an intensive care unit even as the national death toll passed 10,000.

 

He will not immediately be returning to work, but rather will continue his recovery at Chequers, the prime minister’s official country residence, said media reports citing a statement from his office.

 

Johnson, 55, said it "could have gone either way" as he thanked healthcare workers for saving his life after being discharged from hospital.

 

The British Premier was taken to London's St Thomas' Hospital on Sunday - 10 days after testing positive for Covid-19. He spent three nights in intensive care before returning to a ward on Thursday, reported BBC.

 

He said in a video on Twitter that he had witnessed the "personal courage" of hospital staff on the front line.

 

Johnson said two nurses - Jenny from New Zealand and Luis from Portugal - stood by his bedside for 48 hours at the most critical time and named several other hospital workers who cared for him this past week that he wanted to thank.

 

He said NHS workers "kept putting themselves in harm's way, kept risking this deadly virus".

 

"It is thanks to that courage, that devotion, that duty and that love that our NHS has been unbeatable," he added.

 

Downing Street said the PM would continue his recovery at his country residence, Chequers.

 

"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.

 

"All of his thoughts are with those affected by this illness."

 

The UK has recorded 737 new coronavirus-related hospital deaths as of 17:00 BST on Saturday, taking the total number to 10,612.

 

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he was "delighted" the PM was out of hospital and continuing his recovery at Chequers.

 

He added that staff at St Thomas' would "have cared for him as they would have cared for anybody in this country," which was "one of the things that makes me so proud that the NHS is there for us all".

 

Asked how long it would be before the prime minister returned to work, he said: "That will be a clinical decision for his doctors to take with him.

 

"The government is operating perfectly efficiently within the strategy he set out."

 

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is currently in charge of running the government, with aides reportedly expecting Johnson to be out of action for as long as a month.