Daily Mail

MANY LOVED ONES WILL DIE

PM gives chilling warning to families

- By Jason Groves Political Editor Turn to Page 2

Up to 10,000 in UK ‘have virus’ ++ If you are ill, you MUST stay home

Worst City crash since 1987 as global fears soar BORIS Johnson last night warned Britons that many of them are going to ‘lose loved ones’ as coronaviru­s grips the country.

At a sombre press conference, the Prime Minister said the epidemic was the ‘worst public health crisis for a generation’.

As the death toll in the UK rose to ten, the Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said up to 10,000 people may already have the virus – almost 20 times the official figure of 590.

He added that the course of the epidemic appeared to be four weeks behind the disease in Italy, where the death toll has passed 1,000 and shows no sign of slowing.

In one of the bleakest messages delivered by any modern prime minister, Mr Johnson told the nation: ‘I must level with you, level with the British public: many more families are going to lose loved ones before their time.’

Mounting global alarm about the economic impact of the outbreak sparked another day of meltdown on the

world’s financial markets. In London, the FTSE 100 index suffered its worst day since the Black Monday crash of 1987, losing almost 11 per cent of its value. In the US, the Dow Jones fell 10 per cent. It came as:

▪ The NHS prepared to cancel thousands of routine operations to free up capacity;

▪ Ireland imposed dramatic measures, including closing all schools and banning gatherings of more than 500 people, despite having just 70 confirmed cases of the disease;

▪ Nicola Sturgeon signalled the first split in the UK response by announcing a ban on mass gatherings north of the border from next week to free up emergency services to help tackle the crisis;

▪ The sporting calendar was thrown into turmoil, with a string of major events cancelled and Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta testing positive for coronaviru­s;

▪ The Electoral Commission called for May’s local elections to be delayed until the autumn;

▪ The second round of Brexit talks, due to take place in London next week, was cancelled;

▪ Ministers said Parliament would remain open despite ten MPs placing themselves in self-isolation;

▪ Donald Trump sparked chaos by announcing a month-long ban on all travel to the US from the EU;

▪ Ministers faced calls to impose tougher measures to slow the spread of the virus, with former health secretary Jeremy Hunt saying he was ‘surprised we’re not moving sooner’;

▪ Hollywood star Tom Hanks and his wife said they had been diagnosed with coronaviru­s;

▪ Barchester, which runs more than 200 care homes across the UK, asked visitors to stay away to protect the vulnerable.

One government adviser warned that the battle to defeat the virus, which is set to last months, would come to be remembered in the same way as the Blitz.

Last night it emerged that a team of military planners has been despatched across the country to help coordinate local efforts to cope with the crisis.

Ministers have formally switched efforts from a strategy of trying to contain the spread of the virus to one of attempting to delay its peak to reduce pressure on the NHS.

From today, anyone who develops a persistent cough or a temperatur­e will be asked to quarantine themselves at home for seven days. Schools were ordered to cancel all foreign trips. And the over-70s, who are among the most vulnerable, were warned not to go on cruise holidays.

Further measures, including asking whole families to isolate themselves for a fortnight if any member shows signs of the disease, are ‘coming down the track’, and could be introduced as early as next week.

But despite mounting pressure to go further, Mr Johnson said the Government was not ordering schools to close or sealing borders – moves which are being imposed by several European countries, but which UK experts believe would be ineffectiv­e here.

The Prime Minister also insisted that evidence suggested closing schools could do ‘more harm than good’, with some parents asking older relatives to look after their children and health workers with families having to leave the frontline to care for them.

Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty warned that in the worst- case scenario, up to 80 per cent of Britons could contract the virus, although he suggested the final figure would be significan­tly lower. But with an estimated fatality rate of 1 per cent, tens of thousands could be killed by the virus, for which there is no cure, vaccinatio­n or immunity.

The official number of cases in the UK yesterday jumped by 134 to 590, but Sir Patrick said mathematic­al models suggested the true number was probably between 5,000 and 10,000 and growing rapidly.

Despite this, a meeting of the Government’s emergency committee Cobra decided not to activate more radical ‘social distancing’ measures to slow the spread of the disease, such as scrapping major sporting events, closing schools and asking people to work from home.

Professor Whitty said that with the peak of the outbreak still ten to 14 weeks away, behavioura­l experts feared people would become ‘fatigued’ by such measures before they could achieve their maximum effect if they were deployed too soon.

Sir Patrick warned that it ‘isn’t possible to stop everybody getting it’ and said efforts had to focus on reducing and delaying the peak of the disease to prevent the NHS being overwhelme­d.

The Prime Minister said Britain would have to ‘mobilise millions of people to help and support each other’, with people asked to care for their loved ones and neighbours and workers asked to cover for absent colleagues. And he stressed that for most people, including most older people, the virus will result in only a ‘mild to moderate’ illness.

But, with other countries imposing tougher measures to slow the spread of the disease, ministers faced questions over their strategy.

Mr Hunt, chairman of the Commons health committee, told Channel 4 News that he was ‘surprised’ the Government was not moving quicker. Calling for an immediate ban on visits to elderly people in care homes, he said: ‘The places that have succeeded are those that have moved most quickly to social distancing.’

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