50,000 SCOTS MAY ALREADY HAVE VIRUS

++ Medical chief’s stark warning ++ Police step up lockdown patrols ++ Backlash over roadblocks south of Border ++ Self-employed to get up to £2,500 a month

AS MANY as 50,000 Scots are infected with the coronavirus and many are unaware they have it, it has emerged.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Catherine Calderwood said the official total for those who have tested positive for Covid-19 is a ‘very significant underestimate’.

The UK death toll jumped by more than 100 in a day from 475 to 578 yesterday, its biggest daily rise yet. In a poignant show of support for NHS workers last night, millions across the UK stood on their doorsteps to provide a round of applause.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson led the extraordinary tribute to take part in the ‘clap for our carers’ at 8pm.

Landmarks across Britain were turned blue for the event, including Glasgow’s SSE Hydro and the Blackpool

Tower. The rapid increase in cases came on the same day police were handed powers to slap on-thespot fines on those who fail to comply with social distancing.

Nicola Sturgeon said the new enforcement powers will allow officers to direct people to return home,

dish out fines and even prosecute those who disregard orders to stay at home.

Officers could be seen in towns and cities across Scotland yesterday stopping people in the streets and breaking up gatherings.

But forces in England were criticised for their heavy-handed approach as they set up checkpoints to stop vehicles and used drones to clamp down on walkers.

They claimed there has been a marked increase in the number of anti-scoial behaviour incidents south of the Border.

Dr Calderwood said it was important people remained indoors and avoided any social contact to halt the spread of the deadly bug.

As she confirmed 894 people in Scotland have now officially tested positive for coronavirus, she said: ‘This is a very significant underestimate of the number of cases in Scotland.

‘We’re probably looking at the order of 40,000 to 50,000 people in Scotland who are now infected with coronavirus.’

She added: ‘Many of them don’t yet know that they are infected nor indeed do they realise they are potentially going to infect those around them.’

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon stressed she hoped the new police powers will not have to be used.

She added: ‘I recognise how unusual and out of character these regulations are.’

The escalation in the spread of the virus came on a day when:

■ A further three people have died, bringing the total number of deaths to 25 in Scotland;

‘Many don’t know they have it’

■ Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveiled a package of support for self-employed workers facing financial difficulties, but warned some people would still miss out;

■ One of the government’s top advisers said the UK’s epidemic will get worse before it gets better but could peak by Easter;

■ Dyson was handed an order of 10,000 ventilators from the Government – as long as the machines pass early tests;

■ Retailer Boots begged people not to turn up demanding new antibody tests because it has yet to receive any;

■ Royal aides tried to trace anyone Prince Charles has met in the last fortnight after he tested positive for the disease.

Yesterday was the first time the number of positive cases had increased by more than a hundred in a day and came after the previous figure had suggested the rate was starting to fall. UK Government officials suggest lockdown measures of varying degrees might have to stay in place until autumn.

In a further sign the epidemic was only just beginning, England’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer suggested some lockdown measures would be in place for six months.

Dr Jenny Harries said it was ‘not implausible’ that some social distancing policies would need to be in place until the autumn.

But she pointed out that some measures could be lifted – such as telling the public to stay at home – as the number of cases started to fall.

Yesterday’s figures also show there have been 11,658 confirmed infections in the UK, up from 9,529 the previous day.

These numbers are a fraction of the total as officials are only testing patients in hospital, despite calls from the World Health Organisation to expand this much more widely.

Miss Sturgeon added: ‘This will get harder with every day that passes, to stay at home and to follow all the advice, but it remains essential that we all do so.’

Dr Calderwood warned the public not to become more relaxed about sticking to the rules as the weekend approaches. She also said Scotland is behind ‘particularly London but also other parts of England’ in the number of cases of Covid-19 and the pressure that is placing on the NHS.

Scotland, she said, ‘perhaps’ put measures in place at an earlier stage, adding: ‘What we hope is that rapid acceleration we have talked about is perhaps not as rapid as in other parts of the country.’ Rishi bails out the selfemployed – Pages 6-7