The secretary of state for health and social care has announced that around 4000 retired nurses and 500 doctors have signed up to help tackle the coronavirus outbreak in the United Kingdom.

Matt Hancock, the Secretary of State for Health & Social Care and MP for West Suffolk said he was extremely delighted to find out that 4000 nurses and 500 doctors had responded to the government’s call to get recently retired healthcare professionals to come out of retirement.

The 4500 healthcare workers will be helping the NHS in a difficult time.

Thank you to those returning to the NHS, and for the heroic effort from all those working so hard in our national effort to tackle #coronavirus

— Matt Hancock (@MattHancock) March 21, 2020

In a message that they posted on his official Twitter account, Secretary Hancock described their actions provides brilliant support in our national effort to tackle the novel coronavirus.

In a video that he posted on Twitter, Hancock said that that the country needs to do a lot more.

He said, “But we need many more. It’s easy to do, and we will make sure that your service is put to best effect. The whole country needs the NHS right now and if you’re a retired doctor or a retired nurse then your NHS needs you.”

Hancock thanked all the healthcare workers that were returning to the NHS from retirement.

He also praised the heroic effort from all those working so hard in our national effort to tackle the coronavirus.

The health secretary’s announcement comes as it was revealed that the NHS had struck a deal with private hospitals to acquire thousands of extra beds, ventilators, and medical staff.

An extra 8000 hospital beds across England, nearly 1,200 ventilators, and almost 20,000 fully qualified staff will be available from next week to help fight the coronavirus outbreak.

The staff includes 10,000 nurses, over 700 doctors, and over 8,000 other clinical staff who will be helping to manage an expected surge in coronavirus cases.