Two nurses praised by Boris Johnson are keeping quiet about their new-found fame but have quickly made their native countries proud.

The prime minister spent seven nights at St Thomas' Hospital in central London, three of them in intensive care, after his coronavirus symptoms worsened.

In a video recorded after his release on Sunday, he praised the hospital's workers, saying the NHS had "saved my life, no question".

PM: 'It could have gone either way'

So far more than 10,000 people have already died with COVID-19 across the UK amid a warning by a member of the government's scientific advice committee the UK could end up being the "worst affected country in Europe".

In his video, Mr Johnson gave particular thanks to two nurses - Jenny from the New Zealand town of Invercargill and Luis from Portugal.


He said the two "stood by my bedside for 48 hours when things could have gone either way".

The two nurses were Jenny McGee and Luis Pitarma and neither have given interviews so far, quite possibly because they're still busy at work treating other COVID-19 patients.

Image: Armed police were seen leaving the hospital after the PM was discharged

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Ms McGee, 35, was born and raised in the South Island town of Invercargill but has worked in London for "some time", according to the NZ Herald.

She had been "blown away" by the prime minister's public praise, her brother Rob McGee told the newspaper.

PM's nurse a 'fabulous, vivacious' person

Ms McGee's parents have spoken of their pride at her being mentioned in Mr Johnson's message, and paid tribute to what she and her healthcare colleagues have done since the pandemic began.

Her mother, Caroline McGee, told Television New Zealand: "It makes us feel exceptionally proud obviously, but she has told us these things over the years. It doesn't matter what patient she is looking after, this is what she does."

She added: "I just find it incredible that she, any nurses, can do this for 12 hours, sit and watch a patient and twiddle away with all the different knobs and things they do to keep their patients alive, it's absolutely amazing."

Her father Mike McGee said: "Once we'd heard that Boris Johnson had gone into intensive care it was obvious that at some stage Jenny would possibly run into him and be giving him the same level of care that she would have given anybody else the week before or next week and we're really proud of her."

'A surreal time, something she'd never forget'

Mr Pitarma was contacted by Portugal's President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who congratulated him on the "special recognition" given to him by Mr Johnson.

In a statement, the president's office said: "The president of the Republic underlines the special recognition presented today by the British prime minister Boris Johnson, to the Portuguese nurse Luis Pitarma for his work and vigilance during hospitalisation in intensive care."

Portugal's Expresso newspaper said Mr Pitarma, 29, is from the city of Aveiro and had moved to the UK in 2014.

After a few years as a nurse at Luton and Dunstable University Hospital, he moved to St Thomas's, becoming a senior nurse there last year.

Since October he had been part of the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation programme, which the newspaper described as a procedure applied in cases of respiratory failure.

Image: Portugal's President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa

According to a parliamentary report from July 2019, around 13.1% of NHS staff are non-British.

Between them, these staff hold 200 different nationalities.

Around 5.5% of NHS staff are from other EU countries.

Ms McGee's brother Rob said she was "really pleased" to see NHS staff being recognised for their efforts.

"Whilst she is blown away by Boris' recognition, she is just really pleased to see the public recognition for the amazing work the NHS is doing - that made her really proud," he said.