UK Appeals for 250,000 Health Service Volunteers as COVID-19 Cases Surge

The UK government has launched an urgent appeal for a quarter of a million volunteers to help the National Health Service (NHS) handle the COVID-19 outbreak

Matt Hancock, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, arrives at the Cabinet Office in Whitehall ahead of a meeting of the government's emergency committee Cobra to discuss the CCP virus response, in London on March 16, 2020. Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

The UK government has launched an urgent appeal for a quarter of a million volunteers to help the National Health Service (NHS) handle the COVID-19 outbreak.

The UK’s health minister Matt Hancock announced the new scheme on Tuesday, appealing for the recruitment of 250,000 volunteers to support vulnerable people who are unable to leave their homes due to the pandemic.