Four people in Surrey family catch coronavirus as 13 new cases in England & 1 in Scotland rockets UK toll to 36
FOUR people from the same family have tested positive for coronavirus as 13 new cases were confirmed in England today.
Three of the new patients caught the killer bug from a man in Surrey who tested positive on Friday.
Chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, confirmed the four people – two from Surrey and two from West Sussex – are part of a “family cluster”.
None of them are health workers and it brings the total number of UK cases to 36.
It is the biggest jump in cases the UK has seen in one day. The surge come as the Health Secretary warned entire British cities could be locked down if the virus outbreak escalates.
Two school workers are among the new victims and another patient, from Essex, caught the bug within England.
Health officers are scrambling to discover whether they caught it “directly or indirectly” from an individual who had recently travelled abroad.
Of the eight remaining cases, six had recently travelled from Italy, while two had been in Iran.
The newly infected Brits are from London, West Yorkshire, Bury in Greater Manchester, Hertfordshire and Gloucestershire.
All of the cases are being investigated and health officials have begun tracing anyone who had close contact with them.
VIRUS COULD SHUT CITIES
A man from Belper, Derbyshire, is concerned he has coronavirus and is now facing an anxious wait for the results.
He was contacted by the health authorities who told him someone he had close contact with had been diagnosed with the killer bug.
The man, who wants to remain anonymous, fears if he has the virus he may have passed it on to his husband.
He said he is suffering with a higher temperature, sickness and dizziness.
A statement on two confirmed cases in Gloucestershire from Debra Lapthorne, centre director for Public Health England South West, said: “Public Health England is contacting people who had close contact with the two confirmed cases of Covid-19.
“The two cases are linked and both became infected whilst in northern Italy.
“Staff from PHE have continued to support St Mary’s Primary School, Tetbury, where one of the cases works.”
Meanawhile, a group of pupils at Homewood School in Tenterden, Kent, have been told to self-isolate after returning from a ski trip in northern Italy.
The news comes as Health Secretary Matt Hancock said despite a “huge economic and social downside”, following China’s lead and isolating UK cities if the situation worsens remains a possibility.
On isolating entire cities, as Chinese authorities did with Wuhan, Mr Hancock told the BBC’s Andrew Marr programme: “There is clearly a huge economic and social downside to that.
“But we don’t take anything off the table at this stage because you have to make sure you have all the tools available if that is what is necessary.”
The Health Secretary confirmed that banning public gatherings and cancelling football matches were being considered by the government, which closing schools may be “necessary”.
He said: “I’m not saying any of these are decisions we have taken but they are things we don’t rule out.”
Boris Johnson has set up a war room to prevent a coronavirus epidemic in Britain.
This afternoon he visited the Public Health England National Infection Service in North London.
The Prime Minister said he was “very, very confident” that the NHS is able to cope with an outbreak of coronavirus.
PM’S PLAN
He said: “As you know, we’ve found about 35 people in this country who have, or have had, the illness.
“And clearly there may be more, that’s likely to spread a bit more, and it’s vital therefore that people understand that we do have a great plan, a plan to tackle the spread of coronavirus.
“And I am very, very confident that in the NHS we have the professionals who will be well able to cope with it.”
Downing Street has ordered a team of scientists and officials to work round-the-clock with public safety the “top priority”.
The Government’s COBRA emergency committee will meet several times this week as a battleplan is published.
Mr Hancock insisted the NHS was ready to deal with further cases of coronavirus, with more than 5,000 emergency critical care beds available.
Three more patients in England tested positive for coronavirus on Saturday, while the Republic of Ireland reported its first patient.
It was confirmed today that a member of staff at St Mary’s Primary School in Tetbury has tested positive for the virus after becoming infected in Northern Italy.
The school will be closed on Monday and Tuesday, with the hope of re-opening on Wednesday.
Another one of those confirmed was a staff member at an infant school in Berkshire.
In an email, Willow Bank Infant School headteacher Michelle Masters urged parents to “remain calm and follow the recommended hygiene procedures”.
“The school will be shut for some days to allow for a deep clean and to ensure that the risk of infection remain(s) low,” Ms Masters said.
Health officials are also tracing anyone who had close contact with a resident in the Cotswolds area of Gloucestershire, and another in Hertfordshire.
Meanwhile a pub in Haslemere, Surrey, has been closed until further notice for deep cleaning after a customer “tested positive for coronavirus”.
A patient in the county was confirmed as the first to catch the illness within the UK on Friday.
The landlords of the Prince of Wales pub said on Facebook that they had no symptoms of the virus and that it was a “precautionary measure only”.
It came as Donald Trump banned travel to Iran after America reported its first death from the virus.
The US president added that he was considering additional restrictions, including closing the border with Mexico in response to the outbreak.
Elsewhere, the husband of British-Iranian woman Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe believes she has contracted coronavirus at the prison where she is being held.
Richard Ratcliffe said his wife has repeatedly asked to be tested for the virus at the Evin prison in Tehran after suffering from a “strange cold”.
Although there are currently no confirmed cases at the prison, Covid-19 has spread rapidly across Iran – with at least 54 dead amid 978 patients identified.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has called on the Iranian government to “immediately allow” health professionals into the prison to assess British-Iranian dual nationals.
Holiday operator Tui said on Saturday evening it would be making arrangements for Britons at a coronavirus-stricken hotel in Tenerife who test negative to return to the UK.
Around 160 Britons were among hundreds of guests put into quarantine at the four-star H10 Costa Adeje Palace after at least four holidaymakers were diagnosed with Covid-19.
Spanish authorities have since said the risk of infection for any Britons staying at the hotel was low, although Public Health England (PHE) advised anyone travelling back to self-isolate until March 10.
It comes amid reports that a fifth man at the hotel has tested positive.
More than 11,000 people in the UK have been tested for the virus so far.
The number of people sickened by the virus has climbed to more than 86,000 globally and there have been more than 2,900 deaths, most of them in China.
