Health secretary Matt Hancock has confirmed that a new hospital to deal with coronavirus patients will open next week.

The Nightingale Hospital will have two wards, each with capacity for 2,000 people.

Members of the armed forces have helped to set up the new medical institution, based at the Excel Centre in east London.

In addition to the new site, Mr Hancock asked a quarter of a million people to volunteer for the NHS to help vulnerable people.

The healthy volunteers will be asked to do shopping, deliver medication, and support those who have been asked to stay home for 12 weeks.

He said more than 35,000 extra NHS staff have already joined up to help fight against the virus, including 11,788 retired doctors and nurses returning to the service, 5,500 final year medics, and nearly 19,000 last year nurses entering the workforce early.

It comes after the Government faced criticism over its policy on workers, with pictures of packed London Tube trains appearing on social media.

In measures announced yesterday, 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".

He added: "These steps are not requests, they are rules.

"I would like to thank everyone in our NHS and those in social care, not just the doctors and nurses.

"You are our front line in the war against this virus."