Coronavirus patient caught illness in UK
THE 20TH case of coronavirus in the UK has been confirmed and the patient is the first to catch the illness in this country.
Health chiefs said it was not yet clear if the virus was passed on from somebody who had recently travelled abroad.
The patient has been transferred to a specialist NHS infection centre at Guy’s and St Thomas.
It comes after a British man became the first UK citizen to die from coronavirus.
Meanwhile, Boris Johnson has insisted that tackling the spread of coronavirus is a “top priority” after critics accused him of failing to take a lead on the UK response.
A PATIENT diagnosed with coronavirus in England has become the first to catch the illness within the UK.
Chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty said it was not yet clear if the virus had been passed on from somebody who had recently travelled abroad.
It marked the 20th confirmed case in the UK – 18 of which were in England, one in Northern Ireland and one in Wales.
The news comes after a British man became the first UK citizen to die from coronavirus.
The man, who was on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship was the sixth person from the ship, which has been quarantined off the Japan’s coast amid the outbreak, to have died.
Confirming the latest case in England, Prof Whitty said: “One further patient in England has tested positive for Covid-19.
“The virus was passed on in the UK.
“It is not yet clear whether they contracted it directly or indirectly from an individual who had recently returned from abroad.
“This is being investigated and contact tracing has begun.
“The patient has been transferred to a specialist NHS infection centre at Guy’s and St Thomas.”
The Department of Health and Social Care said the original source of the virus was “unclear”, adding that there was no “immediately identifiable link” to overseas travel.
According to Public Health England, one of the latest coronavirus cases was a resident in Surrey.
Elsewhere yesterday, Wales’ chief medical officer Dr Frank Atherton, said that the first diagnosed patient in Wales had recently travelled back from Italy, the worst-affected country in Europe. He said that the man had returned from a holiday there last week, and is now being treated at one of the specialist centres in an English hospital.
In Tenerife, hundreds of guests have been confined to the H10 Costa Adeje Palace after at least four tourists, including an Italian doctor, were diagnosed with coronavirus.
However, six Britons were among those told they could leave on Friday by Spanish authorities because they arrived at the hotel on Monday – after those who tested positive had been taken to hospital.
Northern Ireland reported its first case on Thursday, as someone who recently returned from northern Italy was diagnosed with the virus.
So far, China has reported nearly 80,000 cases and almost 3,000 deaths, while the virus has reached nearly 60 countries with more than 80 deaths.
Meanwhile, Labour has criticised Boris Johnson for waiting until Monday to hold a meeting of the Government’s Cobra contingencies committee on the outbreak.
Boris Johnson has insisted that tackling the spread of coronavirus is a “top priority” after critics accused him of failing to take a lead on the UK response.
The Prime Minister took to the airwaves after coming under fire for waiting until next week to chair his first emergency Government meeting into the deadly global virus.
Labour had labelled him a “part-time” PM for failing to lead a Cobra contingencies committee on the outbreak until Monday.
But Mr Johnson told reporters yesterday he had been working behind the scenes, meeting with the Health Secretary and chief medical officers to discuss the NHS’s preparations.
He said: “The issue of coronavirus is something that is now the Government’s top priority.”
The Covid-19 virus was passed on in the UK.
Chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty