KILLER BUG: FIRST BRIT DIES &
DELAY Boris Johnson yesterday
BY MARTIN BAGOT and OLIVER MILNE
CORONAVIRUS claimed its first British life yesterday – as Boris Johnson held back on chairing a Cobra meeting on the crisis until after the weekend.
He was accused of being a “part-time Prime Minister” as:
One of the Brits who was on the virus-hit cruise liner Diamond Princess died in Japan.
Total UK infections rose to 20 as four more cases were confirmed, including the first case transmitted within this country.
Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt warned hundreds of thousands of lives could be at risk.
Plans emerged for a morgue to be set up in tents in Hyde Park, London, if the virus takes hold.
The World Health Organisation upped its risk assessment to “very high” across the world.
Shares fell to their lowest level since the 2008 financial crisis.
The first UK citizen to be killed by the virus died in Japan after becoming one of 705 people aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship to catch the virus. It was reported last night the man, in his 70s, did not live in Britain.
Two of the latest confirmed cases in England tested positive after returning from Iran and they were taken to a specialist unit at the Royal Free Hospital in north-west London.
Wales recorded its first case in a patient recently returned from north Italy. The fourth confirmed patient, from Surrey, was taken to a specialist infection centre at Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospital in central London.
Professor Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer for England, said of the latest case: “The virus was passed on in the UK. This is being
SUPPORT Health minister Jo Churchill investigated and contact tracing has begun.” It marked a new phase in the UK’s fight against the virus amid fears it could be loose in the community.
Prof Jonathan Ball, of Nottingham University, said: “It is very likely, if not a certainty, that virus will come here under the radar and start to transmit.”
The World Health Organisation said the risk of a global spread is now “very high” – the highest level of alarm. Dr
Mike Ryan, leading WHO’s emergencies programme, said: “This is a reality check for every government on the planet – wake up, get ready... You have a duty to your citizens, you have a duty to the world to be ready.”
Tory MP Nickie Aiken revealed worst-case scenario plans for an outbreak in London include opening a morgue set up in tents in Hyde Park.
Her colleague Hunt warned hundreds of thousands of lives could be at stake if Britain cannot contain the virus.
The chair of the Health Select Committee said: “Our worst-case scenario is 70 per cent becoming affected. Hundreds of thousands of lives could depend on whether we could keep infection levels down to 10 per cent or five per cent.”
The NHS already has 81.8 per cent of intensive care beds occupied, leaving only 673 available beds in England.
The five Cobra meetings so far to discuss the outbreak with senior Whitehall officials have been chaired by ministers other than the PM. No10 said: “The Prime Minister is keen to chair Cobra on Monday to ensure that everything that can be done is being done.”
But Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth said: “Our part-time Prime Minister needs to get a grip quickly.”
Ex-chancellor George Osborne said: “The Government now needs to go on to a war footing with the coronavirus: daily NHS press briefings,