UK ‘well pre ared for virus outbreak’

BY AMY-CLARE MARTIN DOWNING Street insisted Britain is “prepared for all eventualities” as the death toll from the coronavirus outbreak in Italy rose to six.

Experts have warned we are on the cusp of a global pandemic after Italian cases of deadly Covid-19 climbed to more than 200, with other major outbreaks in Iran and South Korea.

More than 50,000 people in 11 northern Italian towns in the Lombardy and Veneto regions have been in lockdown since Friday in a bid to contain the largest outbreak in Europe.

Italian authorities confirmed an 88-year-old was the fifth victim, with a further death reported locally.

But No10 maintained the risk to

Ghebreyesus said: “The sudden increases of cases in Italy, the Islamic Republic of Iran and Korea are deeply concerning.”

He said he did “not yet” consider the outbreak to be a global pandemic but insisted the virus has the potential to become one.

However, expert Dr Bharat Pankhania, from the University of Exeter, said he considers it to be a “pandemic in all but name”.

University of Chicago researchers found screening will miss more than half of infected travellers because their symptoms have not developed. health workers if they are used correctly with other infection control practices but there is little evidence the public benefit from them. The strategy warns that closing borders could put at risk the secure supply of food and pharmaceuticals, and a general policy would be to keep schools open. There is limited evidence restrictions on crowds will have any significant effect and mass gatherings “may help maintain public morale”.