‘Better days will return’: Queen Elizabeth compares Covid-19 fight to WWII, but reassures Brits, as coronavirus deaths near 5,000

Adapting her wartime message for the present, Queen Elizabeth II has assured the UK that by remaining “united and resolute” it will beat the coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, the virus claimed another 621 lives overnight.

In what was only her fourth special broadcast since her coronation in 1953, the queen thanked healthcare workers “who selflessly continue their day-to-day duties outside the home in support of us all.”

She went on to thank the British public for staying at home and keeping up morale, saying that “the attributes of self-discipline, quiet, good humored resolve, and a fellow feeling, still characterise this country.”

The monarch compared the isolation faced by modern Britons to the isolation faced by children evacuated from London during World War II. As German bombs rained down on the capital in 1940, Elizabeth — then princess — addressed the evacuated children alongside her sister, Princess Margaret.

“We, as children, spoke from here at Windsor to children who had been evacuated from their homes and sent away for their own safety,” she said.

Today, once again, many will feel a painful sense of separation from their loved ones. But now, as then, we know, deep down, that it is the right thing to do.

Though the Queen insisted that “better days will return,” she also pointed out “we may have more still to endure.” Indeed, shortly before the televised speech, the British government announced that another 621 people had died of the deadly illness overnight, bringing the country’s total fatalities to 4,934.

With the outbreak expected to peak by next Sunday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Friday that it’s “perfectly possible” that Britain may see 1,000 deaths per day by then. By implementing a nationwide lockdown, the British government hopes to keep the total number of deaths below 20,000, as predicted by modeling from Imperial College London.

So far, the UK has recorded just under 48,000 cases of the Covid-19 coronavirus. Globally, more than 1.2 million cases have been recorded, and nearly 70,000 people have died.

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