SOME 250,000 volunteers in good health are being recruited by the Government to help vulnerable people – while an exhibition centre in London will be converted into a new NHS hospital, Matt Hancock has announced.

The Health Secretary said people are needed to assist with the national effort to tackle coronavirus by shopping, delivering medicines and supporting those who are shielding themselves against Covid-19.

He said more than 35,000 extra staff have already joined up to help fight against the virus, including retired doctors and nurses returning to the service and final year students.

Mr Hancock spoke after it was revealed that number of coronavirus dead in the UK had reached 422 - up from 335 the day before and the largest day-on-day increase in the number of deaths since the outbreak began.

Northern Ireland later said there had been a further two deaths there.

Mr Hancock also confirmed that a temporary hospital – the NHS Nightingale hospital – would be opening at London's ExCeL centre.

It will comprise two wards, each of 2,000 people, and has been set up with the help of the military.

The NEC in Birmingham said it also "stands ready" and is "well equipped" to become a temporary hospital after reports suggested the site was another location being considered by the Government.

Mr Hancock said 11,788 recently retired NHS staff had responded to the call to return to the service, including 2,660 doctors, more than 2,500 pharmacists and other staff and 6,147 nurses.

"I pay tribute to each and every one of those who is returning to the NHS at its hour of need," Mr Hancock said.

Some 5,500 final-year medics and 18,700 final-year student nurses will also "move to the frontline" next week.

Mr Hancock's announcement comes after the Government faced criticism over its policy on workers, with pictures of packed London Tube trains appearing on social media on Tuesday.

In measures announced on Monday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson told people to only go to work if "absolutely necessary".

But on Tuesday, Mr Hancock said those who cannot work from home, including key workers in the NHS and social care, should go to work "to keep the country running".

Mr Hancock said construction workers were among those who could continue to work as long as they could remain two metres apart at all times.

But some builders and construction workers have said they feel "angry and unprotected" going to work, while others are under pressure from employers to go in.

Mr Hancock said: "The judgment we have made is that in work, in many instances, the two-metre rule can be applied.

"In my work place, in the House of Commons, you can see it every day.

"Where possible, people should work from home and employers have a duty to ensure that people are more than two metres apart."

Deputy chief medical officer for England Dr Jenny Harries said individuals should raise concerns "very firmly" with their bosses if they felt unsafe but the Government could not individually cover every workplace and every scenario.

She also said couples not living in separate households could be spreading coronavirus if they continue to see each other, and suggested they could move in together.