MPs vote to approve renewal of emergency government COVID-19 powers by 330 to 24

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave a coronavirus briefing on Wednesday where he said that the “tragic increase in daily deaths” that Britain was witnessing was all the more reason to stick to the government’s plan. He assured Britain that the country’s health service has enough beds, personal protective equipment and ventilators.

The best way to combat the virus was by following the rules and acting as a collective. The UK could still avoid further coronavirus restrictions if it put in the work now.

Johnson said he did not agree with those calling to give up on fighting coronavirus. If COVID-19 overwhelms the National Health Service, he said, then other parts of healthcare would suffer too.

“We will get through this,” he said.

He asked the public to download the newly launched contact tracing app, as well as wash their hands, cover their faces, and maintain social distancing.

Meanwhile, the parliament voted overwhelmingly to renew the government’s emergency COVID-19 powers.

The Coronavirus Powers Act has to be renewed by parliament every six months. MPs voted to approve renewal by 330 to 24 -- a majority of 306.

On Wednesday, the government announced a further 7,108 cases of people testing positive for coronavirus across the UK over the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 453,264 cases.

There were also 71 further deaths, bringing the total to 42,143.