What does the ‘imminent threat’ virus grading mean for UK cases?
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has declared that the coronavirus outbreak represents a “serious and imminent threat to public health”. But what does this mean and how does it affect the response to UK cases?
What is the impact of the government’s latest announcement?
The DHSC said following its declaration, the risk to the public had not changed, but it was “strengthening” regulations over safety and to help health professionals. New legal powers mean people with coronavirus can be forcibly quarantined and will not be free to leave, and can be forcibly sent into isolation.
Why was the announcement made now?
It is understood the government’s move was in response to one of the Britons who returned from Wuhan attempting to leave isolation at Arrowe Park.
This is despite all the Britons who returned on a evacuation flight signing a contract agreeing to a14-dayquarantineperiod. There were concerns over whether those contracts are legally enforceable. How many people have been infected in the UK? A total of eight people have tested positive for coronavirus in the UK. The government yesterday revealed four more cases, who are all understood to be contacts of a businessman diagnosed in Brighton last week and who contracted the virus at a conference in Singapore. #
On his return to the UK, the businessman visited a ski chalet in France, where five other Britons were subsequently taken ill with the virus. What is the situation like worldwide?
There have been more than 40,000 cases of the virus globally, mostly in China where the death toll stands at 908.
The five British nationals being treated in France, diagnosed after they came into contactwiththebusinessman, are not in a serious condition.
There are a total of 130 confirmed coronavirus cases on board the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship.