Queen Elizabeth II has thanked healthcare workers on the frontline of the fight against the corona virus outbreak, promising that a united effort would help defeat the disease.

In a rare special televised address, the 93-year-old monarch drew on her experience in World War II, offering a message of hope to people forced to separate from family and friends.

The broadcast to Britain and Commonwealth nations came as billions of people across the world are forced to stay at home to stop close-contact transmission of the virus.

The queen said people in Britain and around the world could feel proud of their community response to the outbreak.