MILLIONS TOLD: WORK AT HOME TO FIGHT VIRUS
BRITONS are being told to get ready to work from home after the biggest leap in coronavirus cases in a single day. Another 48 were reported yesterday, making a total of 164 since the start of the outbreak.
The deadly contagion last night claimed a second victim in Britain. The man, who was in his 80s and already in poor health, died in intensive care at Milton Keynes hospital.
With the number of cases bound to escalate, health officials are advising millions of employees to ask bosses about working from home, should it become ‘necessary’. Public
Health England is in discussions with major firms about expanding home working and ensuring employees have essentials such as laptops, internet and a quiet room.
Several have drawn up plans including BT, Ernst & Young, Deloitte, KPMG, Santander and Tesco’s head office in Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire.
As Boris Johnson acknowledged the potential for ‘substantial disruption’:
Two BA baggage handlers at Heathrow tested positive, raising fears they could have transmitted the virus to fliers;
The number of cases globally reached 100,731, with 3,412 deaths;
The FTSE 100 fell 3.6 per cent to reach its lowest level since the Brexit vote;
At least two British children tested positive for the virus, one in Liverpool, one in Devon;
Up to 142 Britons were trapped on a quarantined liner off San Francisco;
£46million of UK foreign aid cash will go on developing a vaccine and testing;
Patients will be phoned to check they are virus-free before GP consultations;
Italy recorded 49 new deaths linked to coronavirus, taking the total to 197.
Yesterday PHE, which is the Government’s health protection agency, issued stark advice to families on how to ready themselves for an epidemic. The steps include preparing to self-isolate for two weeks, even if just one person in the household develops symptoms, and identifying neighbours who could bring food.
Elderly patients or anyone with a longterm health condition should go through their diaries and consider cancelling ‘activities’ that could expose them to the virus. This might include a concert or any event that involves public transport.
The guidance reveals that the UK could soon follow Italy, where much of the country is in lockdown to try to contain the outbreak. Towns and cities that have particularly high numbers of cases may have to enforce ‘social distancing’ policies, including closing pubs, cinemas, gyms and theatres.
Commuters unable to work from home would be encouraged to stagger their journeys to ensure the rush hour is quieter, or be told to walk or cycle. The guidance urges families to help vulnerable relatives and neighbours buy enough food for a week – if an epidemic takes hold. This appears to contract the Government’s anti-stockpiling messages.
But one of the key points of the advice is that employees – and their bosses – ‘consider the option of home working’, and ensure they are fully set up and ready.
Facebook yesterday shut down its offices in central London until Monday after an employee tested positive for coronavirus.
The second patient in the UK to have died of the disease was identified through routine testing of intensive care patients.
Like the first victim, a woman in her 70s who died at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, he is believed to have contracted the virus in the UK.
Mr Johnson warned there would be a ‘substantial period of disruption when we have to deal with this outbreak’. He added: ‘ How big that will be, how long that will be, is still an open question.’
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who heads the World Health Organisation, warned global leaders yesterday: ‘This is not a drill. This is not the time for giving up. This is not a time for excuses. This is a time for pulling out all the stops.’
Dr Richard Hatchett, of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, told Channel 4 News: ‘ This is the most frightening disease I’ve ever encountered in my career, and that includes ebola and SARS.’
Professor Peter Piot, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, suggested the epidemic would peak at Easter and then might come back in November as the weather got colder.
EMPTY shelves in supermarkets, a rumoured run on petrol and tumbling stock markets. As coronavirus spreads, so – inevitably – does the risk of panic.
Over-reaction to this outbreak has always been one of its most dangerous features. Lulled by an era in which infectious health scares are rare, the temptation for many must be to hit the red button.
All the more reason, then, to pause and reflect. Covid-19 is a serious risk to health, to be sure. But the outbreak will not last forever and cause only mild symptoms in the majority of those who contract it.
And it can be contained by straightforward precautions, such as thorough handwashing, sneezing into and properly discarding tissues, while avoiding unnecessary gatherings and travel. We do not need to rampage through supermarkets in search of baked beans.
We are now in a period of delay, in which the virus’s progress can be impeded by simple measures, allowing the NHS to escape the winter hiatus and cope with a manageable flow of corona cases.
This country prides itself on maintaining a cool head in a crisis. ‘Keep calm and carry on’, as the old wartime poster puts it. Which is precisely what we should do.