Over the past 24 hours nearly five people per second have answered the government's plea for volunteers to aid the fight against coronavirus, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has confirmed.

The Prime Minister used his daily Downing Street briefing to offer a string of thank yous in response to the sacrifices and measures made by the population since Monday's lockdown announcement.

And he made sure to mention that the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, would be tackling what help might be available for the self employed at tomorrow's press conference (Thursday, March 26).

But he offered the most thanks to the 405,000 people who have volunteered for the NHS Volunteer Responder Scheme , first announced by health secretary Matt Hancock on Tuesday.

That means since the announcement, 16,785 people per hour, 281 per minute and five people per second have logged on to pledge their support - a figure closing fast on the total population of Gloucestershire.

"From the very beginning of this crisis, I have followed the advice of our world-leading scientists to take the right measures at the right time," Boris Johnson said.

"Our NHS, like any health service has a limited number of doctors and nurses. So it's vital to delay the spread of the deeseas and the number of people needing hospital treatment at any one time.

"With your help we will slow the spread of the disease.

"I want to thank everyone who has been following the clear rules we set out on Monday. I want to thank everyone who is working on the front line of the NHS.

"And I want to thank all our public services. our teachers and school staff, transport workers and police officers who are keeping our country going.

"But I also want to offer a special thank you everyone who has now volunteered to help the NHS. When we launched the appeal last night, we hoped to get 250,000 volunteers over a few days.

"In just 24 hours, 405,000 people have volunteered to the call.

"They will be driving medicines to patients, they will be bringing patients home from hospital. Very importantly they will be making phone calls to check on and support people who are staying at home.

"That is absolutely crucial in the fight against this virus.

"To all of you, and to all of the former NHS staff who are coming back into the service, I say thank you on behalf of the entire country."

READ MORE: Full Details of the NHS Volunteer Responder Scheme