Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Global pandemic infects 180,000 people world-wide
tine surgery would be postponed to help expand critical care capacity and help hospitals for “the likely influx of more coronavirus patients”.
All non-urgent operations in England will be postponed from April 15 to free up hospital beds. The emergency policy should release up 30,000 beds and will be in place for at least three months, Sir Simon added. However, cancer operations will not be affected, he reassured.
He said the health system in England has about 7,000 ventilators and there are plans to increase capacity by 5,000, bringing the total to 12,000. British engineering firms have already been urged to switch production to making medical ventilators to help treat patients afflicted by the virus, which causes the disease Covid-19. Reinforcing earlier warnings about protecting the most vulnerable, chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said families should avoid having Mother’s Day lunch with anyone aged over 70.
He also advised people taking painkillers to use paracetamol instead of ibuprofen, after French health officials indicated anti-inflammatory drugs could worsen the virus – though the concern has not been proven.
It is believed a death rate of one fatality for every 1,000 cases is a ‘reasonable ballpark figure’ based on scientific modelling. More than 50,000 people have been tested for the virus in the UK, but testing is primarily carried out in hospitals which means the actual infection rate may never be known. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has advised against all non-essential travel abroad with the warning in place for 30 days, the House of Commons was told. In a statement, Mr Raab said: “UK travellers abroad now face widespread international border restrictions and lockdowns in various countries.
“The speed and range of those measures across other countries is unprecedented,” British people currently abroad should consider that flights could be cancelled at short notice as foreign countries grapple with restrictions being imposed by their own authorities, he added.
The coronavirus is now a global pandemic.
It has spread to more than 150 countries and more than 180,000 people have been infected worldwide. There are now more cases around the world than there are in China, where the virus originated.
As a group, coronaviruses are common across the world. Typical symptoms include fever and a cough which may progress to a severe pneumonia, causing shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. Because it’s a new illness, it is not known exactly how coronavirus spreads from person to person. Similar viruses are spread in cough droplets.
The government is now advising anyone with a new persistent cough or fever to stay at home for 14 days, as well as all the people they live with. And as the virus can cause more severe symptoms in people with weakened immune systems, the elderly, and those with long term conditions such as diabetes, cancer and chronic lung disease, the advice is for these people to stay at home too. Across the world many restrictions have been put in place to reduce the spread of Covid-19. Italy, the country with the most cases in Europe, was one of the first to go into lockdown, with people told to stay at home, travel limited and public buildings being closed.
But this has now extended to other parts of the continent.
Over the weekend flights heading to Spain were turned around and others were grounded. Following this the European Union proposed all non-essential travel should be suspended to Europe for 30 days, meaning people outside Europe should abandon travel plans. Thousands of flights have been cancelled and some countries have also put land border restrictions in place, including Germany.
Now the Foreign Office is advising all UK nationals against all non-essential travel for 30 days. People are also advised to avoid cruises. As well as travel restrictions, people are being told to avoid unnecessary contact with others. This means working from home if they can and avoiding pubs, restaurants and mass gatherings.