Foreign Secretary Raab announced that thousands of British nationals would be flown home after being stranded by COVID-19 .
Transmission of the virus within the community was thought to be decreasing , and hospital admission data suggested cases were not rising as fast as anticipated.  At the same briefing , Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab announced an arrangement between the government and major UK airlines to fly home tens of thousands of British nationals who had been stranded abroad by the coronavirus outbreak.  late March , it was announced that the NHS would be establishing a network of NHS Nightingale Hospitals , temporary emergency hospitals set up in major conference centres to help to deal with the large number of cases expected .