UK health minister says 560,000 volunteers sign up to help NHS

The spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in London

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's health Minister Matt Hancock said on Thursday that 560,000 people had volunteered to help the National Health Service during the coronavirus crisis, more than double the number he had hoped to recruit.

Britain had on Tuesday issued a call for 250,000 volunteers to sign up to help the NHS and vulnerable people hit by the coronavirus crisis.

Writing on Twitter, Hancock called the news "fantastic".

(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge, writing by Sarah Young; editing by Michael Holden)