CORONAVIRUS FIRST UK DEATH
Number of Brits infected hits 116 as it’s revealed 75-year-old woman killed by disease contracted it here
CORONAVIRUS yesterday claimed its first life in Britain – as the number of cases in Scotland doubled.
A patient – believed to be a 75-year-old woman who had underlying health conditions and who had not travelled abroad – died after testing positive.
She had been ‘’in an out of hospital’’ in Reading, Berkshire, for other reasons.
The death came as the number of coronavirus – or Covid-19 – cases in Scotland hit six.
And cases in the UK more than doubled in 48 hours.
Some 116 people had last night tested positive, as the country moves towards the “delay phase” of tackling the virus.
In Scotland, patients in Grampian, Forth Valley and Greater Glasgow & Clyde Health Board areas joined three already diagnosed in Grampian, Ayrshire and Tayside.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the number of cases could rise “very rapidly” in the coming days and said it looks “unlikely” that the virus can be contained.
Sturgeon said the Scottish Government is still working to delay the spread of Covid-19 and reduce the impact on the public and the NHS. Ministers “will not hesitate” in taking measures to protect people from the disease, she said. It is thought some of the infected six may not be in hospital but are self-isolating at home.
The Scottish Government refused to confirm where the patients are being treated but Chief Medical Officer Dr Catherine Calderwood said recently that not all those with the virus would be hospitalised if they did not have serious symptoms.
And yesterday, the Government said the three new patients were “clinically well” and were receiving “appropriate clinical care”.
All three new cases are contacts of known cases. Speaking at First Minister’s Questions in Holyrood, Sturgeon said: “I think we all recognise and accept that it looks increasingly unlikely that we are going to be able to contain this outbreak indefinitely.
“So, therefore, it is likely that we will move into the delay phase of the virus and that may be reasonably soon but that will be guided by the best scientific advice.”
Describing the situation as “very serious”, she added: “As of this morning, we have six confirmed cases. I would expect that to rise – possibly very rapidly – in the days to come.
“I also want to stress that we are still very much in what is called the ‘contain phase’ of the virus in Scotland.
“If people follow the advice, if we ensure confirmed cases are isolated, that contacts are traced and given appropriate advice and if the public follow the advice on hand (washing) and other personal hygiene, then we can continue to have a degree of success in stopping the spread from individual to individual, and it is important that we do that for as long as possible.”
She explained the importance of delaying the spread of the infection: “We may not be able to contain the virus indefinitely but every day we manage that and every week that we manage that, taking a future peak out of the winter period and into spring and summer, then we help to reduce the impact.”
Sturgeon said she is confident Scotland’s two coronavirus testing facilities in Glasgow and Edinburgh would be able to cope with rising demand, although discussions are ongoing about opening further sites in Tayside and Grampian.
The First Minister also confirmed work is under way to identify recently retired NHS staff as part of contingency plans.
They could be asked to return to help the NHS if necessary.
It follows a similar approach in the rest of the UK. Calderwood added: “With all these cases, our thoughts are with those diagnosed and their families. Scotland is well equipped to deal
with this kind of infection and we are doing everything we can to contain the virus at this stage and minimise the risk to the public.
“Clinicians are now conducting contact tracing, the process of gathering details of the places those who have tested positive visited and the people they have been in contact with.
“Close contact involves either face-to-face contact or spending more than 15 minutes within two metres of an infected person. The risk is very low in situations where someone may have passed a patient on the street or in a shop.
“Health protection teams will contact those who are at risk from the current cases – those who are not contacted are not at risk. We can all play our part to limit the spread of the virus.”
There are 105 cases in England, two in Wales and three in Northern Ireland. Just two days ago, there were 51 UK cases.
England’s chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, said there was now evidence of community transmission between people who had no connections to overseas cases or returning travellers in the UK.
He suggested that existing drugs could play a role in treating Covid-19, explaining: “They won’t necessarily be perfect drugs but they may be enough to improve the outcomes for the people in the most high-risk groups.”
Whitty urged the public not to panic, saying a mass closure of schools may only have a limited impact on the spread of the virus.
And he said the elderly should not self-isolate at the moment.
Whitty stressed there was no need to stockpile food or medicine, adding: “This is going to be ... a marathon not a sprint.”
Around the globe, Kazakhstan was preparing to deport citizens from countries where outbreaks have been detected and Palestine ordered hotels in the West Bank to stop receiving foreign tourists.
Switzerland reported its first death from the virus and there were two more added to France’s death toll.