UK cases of coronavirus WILL keep rising and infections are taking place between Britons, warns Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty as he says the focus is now on delaying the spread
UK cases will keep rising and infections are taking place between Britons, Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said today.
Prof Whitty said hopes of containing the virus largely in its origin site in China were ‘slim to zero’.
He warned ‘community transmission’ was happening in the UK, and the government’s focus had moved from the ‘contain’ phase to focus on efforts to ‘delay’ the spread.
Giving evidence to the Health Select Committee, Prof Whitty said: ‘I’m expecting the number only to go up.
‘There are now several – not large numbers – but several cases where we cannot see where this has come from in terms of a clear transmission, either because someone has come directly from overseas or because they’ve had a close contact with someone who has recently returned from overseas.
‘That I think makes it highly likely therefore that there is some level of community transmission of this virus in the UK now.’
Giving evidence to the Health Select Committee, Prof Chris Whitty said: ‘I’m expecting the number only to go up.’
Prof Whitty warned ‘community transmission’ was happening in the UK, and the government’s focus had moved from the ‘contain’ phase to focus on efforts to ‘delay’ the spread.
He added: ‘It is here at very low levels at this point in time, but that should be the working assumption on which we go forward.
Asked by chairman Jeremy Hunt whether the government had shifted its focus fro ‘contain’ to ‘delay’, Prof Whitty said: We are now basically mainly delay.’
There are now 90 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK after Scotland declared three more.
Overall, current figures show 80 cases in England, six in Scotland, one in Wales and three in Northern Ireland.
The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), which is chaired by the Government’s chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance, is also meeting on Thursday to discuss the situation.
In other key developments today:
- Health Minister Edward Argar said the Government is awaiting the advice of Prof Whitty before moving from the current containment phase to the delay phase of tackling the virus.
- ITV revealed travel companies are deferring their TV advertising because of the disease, with advertising revenue due to drop 10 per cent in April.
- Europe’s largest regional airline Flybe has collapsed into administration, with sources saying coronavirus “made a difficult situation worse”.
- The Grand Princess cruise ship, with around 2,500 passengers and 1,000 crew, is being held off the coast of California after a former passenger died from Covid-19.
- Kings College Hospital in south London, confirmed two recent patients had tested positive for Covid-19, with some staff told to self-isolate.