Johnson urges calm but large outbreak predicted

BORIS Johnson last night told Government officials to accelerate efforts to delay the coronavirus spread after medics warned a significant UK outbreak cannot be stopped.

Scientific experts told the Prime Minister an epidemic of the potentially fatal bug was highly likely.

Officials will examine proposals including widespread quarantine and encouraging more home working that could be unveiled early next week.

But Mr Johnson appealed for calm yesterday while appearing on This Morning.

He said: “People can see this country is going to get through this in good shape.”

And he repeated his insistence that he will not give up shaking hands because of the outbreak. He shook hands with presenters Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield on arriving on the set and later did the same thing with Maltese premier George Vella on his visit to Number 10.

The PM emphasised that the risks from the virus were small for most of the population and signalled that draconian measures such as closing schools and cancelling sports events and other big public gatherings were unlikely. The experts had advised him that “things like closing schools and stopping big gatherings don’t work as well perhaps as people think in stopping the spread”. Most victims will only suffer from a “mild to moderate” illness, he said. However after meetings of the Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies and the Cobra planning committee, the Prime Minister’s spokesman said: “It is highly likely that the virus is going to spread in a significant way. Officials will focus on steps we could take to seek to delay the spread of the virus.”

Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty is expected to formally declare the response has moved from “contain” to the “delay” phase over the coming days.

The PM also held a summit with Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Bank of England governor Mark Carney to discuss measures for next week’s Budget to help the county withstand the global economic impact of the virus.

In the Commons, Leader of the House Jacob Rees-Mogg said there were no plans to suspend Parliament.