Boris Johnson back at work, says tide being turned on Covid-19

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson returned to work on Monday and declared that the tide is being turned on the coronavirus pandemic in the country, as he urged the British public to contain their impatience against the lockdown.

We are beginning to turn the tideThere are real signs we are passing through the peak, said Johnson in an upbeat address to the nation on the steps of 10 Downing Street.

I ask you to contain your impatience because I believe now we are coming to the end of the first phase of this conflict, he said, promising maximum transparency on the decisions to be taken as the UK enters phase two of the Covid-19 fightback, which will involve "firing up the economic engines" of the economy gradually.

The UK prime minister is chairing a regular special Cabinet meeting on Monday as he takes back charge of the government's response to the coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed 20,732 lives in the UK.

Johnson, 55, had been recuperating from his intensive care treatment at a London hospital earlier this month after he contracted the deadly virus. He returned to 10 Downing Street on Sunday evening from his prime ministerial countryside retreat at Chequers, where he had been based since his discharge from St Thomas' Hospital on April 12.