UK ‘well prepared’ to deal with virus
THE UK remains “prepared for all eventualities”, Downing Street has insisted, as fears over a global coronavirus pandemic continue to grow.
Experts have raised concern that coronavirus will reach pandemic status following a rapid spread of infection in countries including Italy, South Korea and Iran.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) is worried about the lack of an obvious link between China and newer cases in these countries, and some scientists argue the virus can be passed on easily and by those with no symptoms.
In Italy, around 50,000 people are affected by a lockdown in the regions of Lombardy and Veneto, as the country reports more than 160 cases – the largest number in Europe.
In the UK, 13 people have so far been diagnosed with Covid-19 illness caused by the virus, including four over the weekend who had been on the Diamond Princess cruise ship that was held in quarantine in Japan.
Downing Street insisted the UK was “well prepared” and said the risk to individuals in the UK remains low.
Asked whether the UK could put in place restrictive measures such as those seen in Italy to combat the spread of the disease, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We will be led by the advice from public health and medical experts and will take steps which they feel are required to best protect the British public.
“We are well prepared for UK cases, we are using tried and tested procedures to prevent further spread and the NHS is extremely well prepared and used to managing infections.”
WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris told the PA news agency the organisation will not officially declare a pandemic, but will start to use the term in communications if it reaches that stage. She added: “We could start describing it as a pandemic but at the moment we are saying it is clusters and outbreaks in some countries.”
Ms Harris said in most cases there was a clear epidemiological link between those affected and cases reported in Asia.
The Foreign Office has not advised Britons against travel to Italy, but has updated its website with factual information about the situation there.
There are no figures as yet as to whether any Britons are affected by the lockdown and are stuck in Italy. People in the affected areas are being told to follow public health advice from local Italian authorities.
About 77,000 people in China, where the virus emerged in Wuhan city, have been infected and nearly 2,600 have died.
Meanwhile, four Britons rescued from the coronavirus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship are being treated at specialist centres in the North of England after testing positive for the illness.
They were among a group of 30 Britons and two Irish citizens who arrived at a quarantine block at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside on Saturday.