Millions to be told ‘stay at home’ if coronavirus spreads

ANYONE suffering flu-like symptoms could be ordered to “self-isolate” for a fortnight if the number of coronavirus cases in the UK hits the hundreds, in what would be a dramatic shift in government strategy.

Hospitals across the country have created “isolation pods” over the last week to ensure that anyone tested for the virus is kept away from other patients, with efforts to track all close contacts of confirmed cases.

But The Sunday Telegraph understands that after a series of high-level meetings health officials are expected to change tack – and simply order anyone with possible symptoms of flu to stay at home – if the virus is not contained.

That means millions of Britons with coughs and colds could end up quarantined at home, as part of attempts to dampen down the spread of the virus.

It comes as a Chinese tourist visiting France became the first person to die of coronavirus in Europe and another GP surgery was shut in England.

Eight out of the nine people in Britain to have contracted the virus to date have now recovered and following treatment.

The five members of a ski group infected by Steve Walsh – the businessman at the centre of the UK outbreak – have said they had recovered quickly.

Writing in The Sunday Telegraph, Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, today called for more international cooperation to prevent coronavirus turning into a global pandemic.

The Telegraph understands senior managers have been told that the NHS could stop testing patients once around 100 cases have been confirmed across the country, if there is evidence of “sustained transmission” within the UK.

The WHO advises countries to carry out a detailed investigation of at least the first 100 confirmed cases of any pandemic.

Britain’s Pandemic Influenza Response Plan sets out protocols for ensuring isolation and treatment for “the first few 100 cases” so that detailed information can be gathered about any novel virus.

But it says the approach should be changed as soon as there is “evidence of sustained community transmission of the virus, ie cases not linked to any known or previously identified cases.”

The health service is already struggling to cope with the number of tests for the virus it is carrying out.

In the last week, the number tested has quadrupled with 2,992 now carried out, up from 686 a week ago.

The NHS has the capacity to carry out 1,000 tests a day, but on Thursday alone, it carried out 763 tests.

Prof Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, has said the current approach aims to contain and delay the spread of the virus as much as possible

in order to “buy time” while treatments and vaccines are researched.

But, if there are cases of onward transmission in this country, and it becomes sustained, the strategy will shift to “mitigation” as the NHS would not be able to cope with vast numbers of patients undergoing tests.

If large numbers fall ill with mild symptoms, sending them to hospital, where isolation could not be maintained, would increase the risk of the virus spreading among the vulnerable.

Writing in The Sunday Telegraph, the Foreign Secretary said the British government has donated £5million to the WHO’s Flash Appeal to stop its spread.

Experts say if the situation becomes a pandemic, 60 per cent of the population could get the virus – and up to 400,000 people might die.

However, officials stress that it is possible the UK may avoid sustained transmission. One NHS manager in London said that services were struggling to cope with demand for tests, with staff spending hours waiting to ensure those undergoing the checks remained in isolation, with ambulances used to ferry them home.