People with minor colds and coughs could be told to self-isolate
PEOPLE with just minor infections of their nose, throat and lungs could soon be told to isolate themselves for seven days as the UK Government ups its attempt to limit the outbreak of the coronavirus.
The change in advice, which might take place as soon as next week, came as NHS England announced a fifth person had died from the illness.
As of 9am yesterday, there were 319 confirmed cases across the UK, a rise of 46 on the previous day. In Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon said the number of confirmed cases had increased by five to 23.
After taking part in Whitehall’s Cobra emergency meeting, chaired by Boris Johnson, the First Minister suggested Scotland “may be a few days behind” some other parts of the UK in the severity of the outbreak “but, over time, I expect that to flatten out”.
As the coronavirus continued its spread across scores of countries, Israel announced that from Thursday all foreign visitors would have to selfquarantine for 14 days.
In Ireland, Leo Varadkar, the Taoiseach, warned more than half of the country could contract Covid-19 as the Government unveiled a €430 million financial package to tackle the health crisis. The Republic confirmed more cases, bringing the total number to 24.
Italy remains Europe’s epicentre of the outbreak with more than 9,000 cases, the highest number outside of
China, and with a death toll of 463. Last night, Giuseppe Conte, Italy’s premier, announced strict coronavirus quarantine measures, which include a ban
on public gatherings, would be extended to cover the entire country.
People will only be permitted to travel for work or family emergencies.
At a Downing Street press conference, the Prime Minister prepared the UK for a potentially significant shift in the development of the virus, calling for a “great national effort” to meet a “big national challenge”.
Flanked by Professor Chris Whitty, the Chief Medical Adviser, and Sir Patrick Valance, the Chief Scientific Adviser, he told reporters: “It is going to grow and become an even bigger national challenge; that is pretty obvious from where we are today.”
Mr Johnson insisted: “We know how to defeat it and, with a great national effort, we will be able to pull together and do just that.”
Mr Whitty explained: “We are expecting the numbers to increase initially slowly but really quite fast after a while and we have to catch it before the upswing begins.
“We are now very close to the time, probably within the next 10 to 14 days, when the modelling would imply we should move to a situation where we say everybody who has even minor respiratory tract infections or a fever should be self-isolating for seven days afterwards.”
While the Government maintains the UK is still in the “containment” phase of a four-stage plan to tackle the outbreak, the PM admitted it was “very unlikely” this would “happen on its own” and so the Government was preparing for a move to the “delay” phase.
“We are preparing various actions to slow the spread of this disease in order to reduce the strain it places on the NHS; the more we can delay the peak of the spread to the summer, the better the NHS will be able to manage,” said the PM.
Asked why UK ministers were not adopting stronger measures such as stopping flights from Italy, he stressed it was imperative to “take the right decisions at the right time”.
Rory Stewart, the former Cabinet minister and now an independent candidate in the race to become London Mayor, criticised the Government for taking “half-hearted measures” but Mrwhitty explained introducing stronger measures “too early” could lead to people becoming “fatigued”, so getting the timing right was “absolutely critical”. He said: “What we are moving now to is a phase when we will be having to ask members of the general public to do different things than they would normally do.” But he stressed: “Anything we do, we have got to be able to sustain.”
Sir Patrick pointed out the aim of new measures would be to “reduce the peak numbers[by] up to 50 per cent” and lower the mortality rate in the at-risk group by 20 to 30%.
But he stressed it would be wrong to try to “suppress” the disease completely because it could result in a winter outbreak at a time of maximum pressure for the NHS.
With some supermarkets running short of essentials like toilet rolls, Mr Johnson said it was “very important everybody should behave responsibly and think about others”.
He insisted: “We’ll do everything we can to keep supermarkets stocked and the economy working.”
Last night, the Government announced the hours during which deliveries could be made to supermarkets and other food retailers would be extended to help the industry respond to the coronavirus outbreak.
Also under consideration is a move to enable elderly people, not used to ordering groceries online, to place orders by phone.
In the Commons, Matt Hancock, the UK Health Secretary, stressed that throughout the outbreak the Government’s approach was “guided by the science; that is the bedrock on which we base all our decisions”.
He confirmed the Government would repatriate 140 British nationals who are on board the Grand Princess, the cruise ship docked in Oakland, California. Nineteen crew members and two passengers on board have tested positive for Covid-19.
Earlier, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said cancelling sports events and shutting museums and galleries due to the coronavirus would be “premature”.
After a meeting at the department on the next steps covering sporting events, Bill Sweeney, chief executive of the Rugby Football Union, made clear there was “no medical rationale” for cancelling matches or playing them behind closed doors but acknowledged it was a “moving situation”.
In other developments: l Global stock markets suffered their biggest falls since the 2008 financial crisis, in part due to the coronavirus, as the oil price crashed. Trading was halted on the New York Stock Exchange for 15 minutes after the S&P 500 index fell by seven per cent. l The Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies will meet on Tuesday with a Cobra meeting planned for Wednesday. l Disneyland Paris remains open but revealed its first case among a worker there. Transport for London also confirmed a staff member had tested positive. l The Commissions of the House of Commons and House of Lords confirmed there were “no plans to suspend Parliament” as a result of the coronavirus. l A pupil at the Rugby Free Secondary School in Warwickshire is self-isolating at home after being diagnosed with Covid-19, while the Royal College of Physicians postponed its annual conference. l Three quarters of 402 GPS surveyed by GP online said routine appointments should be suspended in the event of a widespread coronavirus outbreak.
One in five thinks this should happen now. l University Hospital Southampton closed its surgical high dependency unit to new admissions after a staff member tested positive. l Travel restrictions may be put in place for some people planning to travel to Vietnam after reports that seven Britons on a flight from the UK tested positive. The Foreign Office would not comment on the figures. l Professor Craig Jackson from Birmingham City University said handwashing advice may inadvertently reinforce obsessive compulsive disorder-type behaviour in some people.
We’ll make sure we do everything we can to keep supermarkets stocked