A secondary school pupil in Devon and one of their family members are among four new coronavirus cases diagnosed in the UK today, as well as an NHS worker in Kent.
Forty patients have now been struck down with the deadly infection in Britain, as the government braces for the virus to spread further and faster amid fears the crisis will escalate within days.
Churston Ferrers Grammar School in Torbay confirmed a student tested positive for COVID-19, while the second case in Devon is a member of the same family. No other details are known.
It comes after it was revealed this afternoon that one of the other cases diagnosed today was an an NHS worker, whose hospital trust rents office space at Maidstone Studios, where ITV’s Take Me Out used to be filmed.
The fourth case was in Hertfordshire. Health officials refused to reveal anymore details about the individuals – including gender or age – but confirmed they all caught the deadly virus in Italy.
Fears were today raised for scores of cancer patients at an NHS hospital in Hertfordshire after a clinician at Mount Vernon Cancer Centre in Northwood was revealed to have caught the deadly virus.
More than a dozen patients are being tested for the killer virus and at least 10 staff members have been forced to self-isolate. The clinician is also believed to have also contracted the illness on holiday in Italy.
Elderly people and patients battling chronic conditions such as cancer are most at risk of suffering life-threatening complications of the highly contagious illness because of their weakened immune systems.
It comes as Prime Minister Boris Johnson – who chaired an emergency Cobra meeting in Whitehall this morning to hammer out a ‘battle plan’ – admitted the crisis could escalate within days.
He said the virus is on the verge of ‘significant’ spread in the UK. His fears were echoed by Public Health England, which said widespread transmission in the UK is ‘highly likely’.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock has refused to rule out imposing Wuhan-style lockdowns on cities, banning large gatherings and shutting down public transport if the situation continues to get worse.
The spate of coronavirus cases have triggered the closure of at least seven schools across the country, including a special needs school in Farnham, Surrey, where a member of staff was exposed to an infected patient.
The coronavirus outbreak, which is teetering on the edge of becoming a global pandemic, has so far infected almost 90,000 people worldwide and killed more than 3,000.
Churston Ferrers Grammar School in Torbay confirmed a student tested positive for COVID-19, while the second case in Devon is a member of the same family. No other details are known
It comes as:
- British Airways cancelled hundreds more flights between Heathrow and New York’s JFK airport, Italy, France, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Ireland and Switzerland. It has also grounded planes between Gatwick and Italy, France and Albania, as well as London City flights to and from Germany and Italy
- Ryanair is slashing its flights by up to 25 per cent, which will particularly affect its flights to and from Italy. The reduced schedule will operate from March 17 until April 8 following a ‘significant drop in bookings’ amid the outbreak
- The EU has raised its coronavirus risk level from ‘moderate’ to ‘high’ as Boris Johnson agreed to a UK-wide action plan
- The OECD fears for the worst financial crisis in a decade as the Bank of England vows to take ‘all necessary steps’ to protect Britain’s economy from impact of coronavirus
- Online supermarket Ocado is running out of stock because Britons are stockpiling items amid fears of a full-blown outbreak
- The exams regulator has told headteachers they need to prepare to ‘deal with disruption’ and potentially hold end-of-year tests in other locations
- Donald Trump revealed plans to screen everyone from high-risk coronavirus countries both prior to leaving the country and when arriving in the US – after America recorded its second death
- Prince Harry’s Invictus Games – a charity event for wounded armed services personnel – may be called off due to the outbreak
- British guests at a quarantined hotel in Tenerife are being flown back to the UK after testing negative for coronavirus, Jet2holidays has confirmed
- The husband of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe – the British-Iranian woman jailed in Iran – says his wife is showing ‘all the symptoms’ of the illness but is yet to be tested
- Angela Merkel was refused when she went to shake the hands of Germany’s interior minister at a business event in her constituency amid fears of the virus spreading in the workplace
- Indonesia today became the 69th country to record cases of the killer virus, which is teetering on the brink of becoming a pandemic
- The Society for Acute Medicine said a major outbreak would put the NHS under ‘immense stress’ with operations cancelled
- Over-60s were told to avoid crowded areas to protect themselves from catching virus, according to The World Health Organisation
- The Louvre in Paris closed its doors and the French health minister advised against kissed greetings as well as handshakes to contain the crisis
A man was spotted wearing a gas mask at Milton Keynes Central train station at around 8am this morning as 40 patients were diagnosed with coronavirus in the UK
One of the new cases is thought to be a film studio worker in Kent. The person, who works at a business at Maidstone Studios (pictured) – which has been the set for shows such as Take Me Out and Catchphrase – tested positive on Sunday
A healthcare worker at Mount Vernon Cancer Centre in Hertfordshire is one of the 13 latest coronavirus cases in the UK, it emerged this morning
Nurses take swabs through the car window of a patient who suspected they may have the coronavirus at Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, today
In little over a month more than 10,000 people have been tested for coronavirus in Britain, of which 36 came back positive
The coronavirus outbreak, which is teetering on the edge of becoming a global pandemic, has so far infected almost 90,000 people worldwide and killed more than 3,000
Schools across England are in turmoil as at least seven have closed because of links to confirmed coronavirus patients and others are on red alert. More than a dozen are closed for deep cleaning in scares about the virus.
Wimbledon College in London said it was shutting until March 10 because multiple teachers were forced to self-isolate after coming into contact with the infected teacher, leaving it understaffed.
Meanwhile St Mary’s Church of England Primary School in Gloucestershire and Willow Bank Infant School in Berkshire will also remain shut until Wednesday while they are deep cleaned after two teachers tested positive over the weekend. A school was also shut in Surrey.
In an email to parents, Churston school’s headteacher Kieran Earley revealed the infected student was getting all the necessary support and advice. He added the school was making arrangements for a deep clean, Sky News reported.
Earlier in the day it was reported that the latest coronavirus case in Kent was a film studio worker in Maidstone. But it later emerged that the patient was a North East London NHS Foundation Trust employee who worked in an office at the same business park.
Stephanie Dawe, chief nurse for NELFT, said: ‘We can confirm that one of our colleagues has been diagnosed with coronavirus, is currently being treated in a treatment centre in London and we wish them well. They were not working in a building or role which meant they came into contact with patients.’
In Hertfordshire, the health care worker is also thought to have caught coronavirus in northern Italy. There have so far been five cases contracted in Britain after a patient in Surrey created a family cluster, spreading the virus to a family member in the county as well as another person in West Sussex.
A spokesperson for Mount Vernon said all individuals who were in contact with the clinician ‘had been identified’ and ‘the appropriate measures taken’.
But NHS officials claim the risk of vulnerable patients contracting the virus was ‘very low’ because the infected health worker did not come into contact with them after falling ill, despite the fact the bug can spread before hosts show symptoms and survive on inanimate objects for hours.
One of the 13 new cases on Sunday was a patient from Harlow, Essex, who caught the disease despite having no link to an affected area abroad. Officials admitted they were clueless as to where the patient contracted the virus amid mounting fears the infection is spreading rampantly throughout the UK.
The total has almost tripled in four days with the virus now reaching all corners of the British Isles. The five cases contracted within the UK may mean that it is already be too late to head off an epidemic.
Boris Johnson today warned the crisis is on the verge of ‘significant’ escalation in the UK – as he urged people to stay calm and keep washing their hands.
The Government is bracing Britons for the virus to escalate further after the number of cases in this country hit 40, including the first in Scotland.
The PM finally waded in to take personal charge of the response by chairing a Cobra emergency committee meeting this morning.
Speaking after the session, which agreed a new ‘battle plan’ against Covid-19 to be published tomorrow, Mr Johnson said coronavirus was ‘likely to become more significant for this country in the course of the next days and weeks’.
Haslemere is at the centre of the latest coronavirus outbreak in Britain – but some have teased that the affluent town should be ‘twinned with Wuhan’
Haslemere Health Centre in Surrey (pictured) is at the centre of the town’s coronavirus outbreak where four people have fallen ill but the source of the infection remains unknown
But he also insisted that the public should try to go about ‘business as usual’, suggesting they wash their hands frequently while singing Happy Birthday twice.
‘We have been making every preparation for that. This country is very well prepared,’ he said.
‘We have also agreed a plan so that as and when if and when it starts to spread… we are in a position to take the steps that will be necessary… to contain the spread of the disease as far as we can and also protect the vulnerable.’
He added: ‘Don’t forget it is still the case that the single most useful thing we can all do is to wash our hands – two times Happy Birthday, hot water and soap.
‘Other than that though I wish to stress that people consider that they should, as far as possible, go about business as usual.’
Nicola Sturgeon, who dialled into the Cobra meeting today, said ‘we are in the containment phase’ but the Scottish government was preparing for a ‘significant outbreak of coronavirus’.
She repeated the ‘reasonable worst case’ figure that 80 per cent of the population could get coronavirus, although she stressed that most would not end up seriously ill.
‘Whatever figures we end up dealing with, whether it’s 80 per cent of something – which is entirely possible much lower than that – the vast majority of people who get this infection will have very mild symptoms, akin to the common cold,’ she said.
It comes as the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU had raised its coronavirus risk level from ‘moderate’ to ‘high’ for those in the European Union.
At least three schools have today closed after teachers and staff caught the bug. Wimbledon College has announced it will close until March 10 and undergo a deep clean after a member of staff tested positive for coronavirus on Sunday following a trip to Italy.
The letter said it had been contacted about the case by Public Health England (PHE). The member of staff was last in school on February 25 and ‘has not had contact with pupils since the beginning of this half term,’ the letter said.
‘However, as some staff members are now classed as close contacts of a confirmed case of Covid-19 they are required to self-isolate as a precautionary measure for 14 days,’ the letter said. It said the school must close due to low staff numbers and hopes to reopen on March 10.
It comes amid reports education bosses are already drawing up plans to cope if coronavirus disrupts GCSE and A-level exams. Guidance from Ofqual, the exams regulator, says schools and exam boards must have emergency contingency plans in place in case of potential epidemics.
It’s thought that officials will have already begun drafting these plans, which could see healthy students having to take tests in different venues and sick pupils sitting them on a different date.
Public Health England’s emeritus medical director warned this morning the UK can expect to see widespread infection of coronavirus ‘fairly soon’.
Speaking on Good Morning Britain, Paul Cosford said: ‘The extent of infection we are seeing in other countries suggests it is likely that we will see more widespread infection in the UK and that is what we have to be prepared for.
‘We should expect at times that might be quite challenging for us, it is therefore very important that we do everything we can to reduce the spread of infection.
‘At the moment, the vast majority of cases we see in the UK are still linked to countries where there is more widespread infection, either in Italy or south east Asia.
‘It is true to say there is a small number now where it is much more difficult to find that link, and that is leading us to think we may well see more widespread infection in the UK fairly soon. It could happen in the next few days or it could take a little longer.’
Shoppers in the Haslemere Waitrose have been wearing face masks as four people linked to the town fell ill
Wimbledon College has shut for more than a week after a teacher tested positive for the virus. It became the third school in three days to shut for a deep clean
In a letter to parents, Wimbledon College said it was shutting until March 10 because multiple teachers were forced to self-isolate after coming into contact with the infected teacher, leaving it understaffed
St Mary’s Church of England Primary School in Tetbury, Gloucestershire, today where a member of staff tested positive for Covid-19 on Saturday. It is closed for deep cleaning until Wednesday
The PM today admitted the coronavirus outbreak was going to be a challenge. He hailed frontline NHS staff as the UK’s ‘greatest asset’ in the face of the coronavirus outbreak. Pictured: Boris visits a laboratory in Public Health England’s National Infection Service on Sunday
Prince Harry’s Invictus Games – a charity event for wounded armed services personnel – may be called off due to the outbreak, which is teetering on the edge of becoming a global pandemic.
The games sees thousands of fans fly in from over 20 countries and is due to be held in The Hague, Netherlands, which recorded its first case on Thursday.
While coronavirus can be fatal – and roughly one in seven victims suffer very serious symptoms – for many the impact can be mild. This means victims could brush aside their symptoms, assuming it is a common cold.
Ministers had hoped they could contain the virus by tracking and isolating cases as soon as the victims returned from high-risk areas. But with 67 countries affected, this is becoming impossible.
Anxiety in an exclusive Surrey market town at the centre of Britain’s coronavirus crisis is heightening today as health officials still hunt for the mystery ‘super-spreader’ whose infection has been passed to at least four people in the stockbroker belt.
Haslemere, an affluent commuter community of 10,000 people nestled in the Surrey Hills, is at the epicentre of a major outbreak that has seen its GP surgery and pub closed with Sunday shoppers in its Waitrose seen wearing face masks.
Homemade posters have also appeared in the town declaring: ‘Haslemere, twinned with Wuhan’ with one resident admitting on the town’s community Facebook page: ‘I’m sorry, I shouldn’t – but if I don’t laugh i’ll cry’.
But there is also growing anger and upset among locals about the lack of information from Public Health England about who is ill – with one concerned resident saying in an online blast: ‘Just name the person – and those who’ve been in contact can come forward. Easy!’. Another critic who fears her daughter could have been in contact with a coronavirus patient said: ‘I do believe they should clarify the person in question’.
The town’s upmarket Waitrose store saw shoppers wearing masks over the weekend and witness Natalie Newman told SurreyLive: ‘I was surprised. I am just telling the kids: ‘Make sure you sanitise your hands’.’
In an ironic twist, Haslemere was chosen just two years ago as the setting for a BBC documentary titled ‘Contagion!’ looking at how a flu outbreak might spread across Britain.
Scientists monitored the movements of hundreds of ‘infected’ locals to work out how they might be able to stop a pandemic – and the war gaming exercise found it spread to 43 million people across the UK and led to the deaths of 900,000.
The town’s first confirmed case is believed to be a patient at Haslemere Health Centre who become Britain’s first person to become infected inside the UK without travelling abroad to a hotspot such as Italy, Iran or China. They are known to have created a ‘family cluster’ of three more people who have tested positive – one in Surrey and two in neighbouring West Sussex.
There are also fears that staff including a GP were also infected – after local MP Jeremy Hunt sent best wishes to the doctor suffering with symptoms – but 72 hours on PHE has not confirmed if the rumour is genuine.
One local said today: ‘I phoned the health centre today as recently have been talking to friends that have been speaking to the staff there I was told it was definitely a doctor and his wife.
‘I was told by another it wasn’t a doctor, so I got them to clarify and she said they can categorically say it’s none of the GPs that work there and have been tested, as my daughter came into contact with the said doctor’s wifen and I have been stressed all weekend because of there unprofessional behaviour but I do believe they should clarify the person in question’.
England’s chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, revealed three ‘close contacts’ of the confirmed patient, believed to be his family, had also contracted coronavirus.
But Prof Whitty added it is not clear if the patient contracted the virus ‘directly or indirectly’ from somebody who had recently returned from a foreign trip.
Surrey’s so-called ‘patient zero’ remains untraced and may not even be aware at being a carrier if his or her symptoms were mild.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock and No10 strategy chief Dominic Cummings were in Downing Street for the Cobra meeting this morning
Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove was also in Downing Street today for the meeting
In Haslemere the health surgery has now reopened after being shut down for a deep clean. But a mile away the Prince of Wales pub as a ‘precautionary measure’ after a drinker tested positive. The landlord said no staff had any symptoms.
Haslemere’s Camelsdale Primary School has told parents that family linked to the school will be in self-quarantine until Friday after spending time with one of the town’s confirmed cases last month.
But headtacher Sarah Palmer said the school, which has 215 pupils aged four to 11, would remain open after heeding the Health Secretary’s warning to UK schools to stay open.
Yesterday, rumours swirled around the wealthy town – where house prices cost on average of £500,000 – that the original spreader may be a commuter.
With trains taking just 52 minutes to London Waterloo, Haslemere is a convenient location for city workers and has one of the highest percentages of first-class rail season ticket holders in the UK.
Not all appeared worried about the outbreak – with several joking online they were more concerned about the ‘avocado and brioche shortages’ in local supermakets.
Others on community groups teased that Haslemere Health Centre – which was opened again after a ‘deep clean’ – suddenly had ‘loads of availability’.
However, many older residents who are most at threat spoke of their concern over the potential outbreak in the town.
Francis Lipscomb, 85, said: ‘Where does it all end? My wife, my daughter and my son decided we wouldn’t go out. I rang 111 and they couldn’t really tell me anything.
‘I’m at risk if I were to catch it, and so is my wife because she’s the same age as me.’ James Ham, 74, said: ‘I didn’t even know anything until I got to the health centre and read the sign on the door. My wife couldn’t collect the prescription as she has really bad asthma, so I’ve come to pick it up.
‘I don’t think young people have much to worry about, but elderly people like me are vulnerable.’
Dennis Smart, an 85-year-old local man, said: ‘On Friday morning I came and rattled on the door [of the health centre] but I found it was closed.
‘I phoned up and they said it is closed, if you need anything urgent go to A&E in Guildford or phone the NHS on 111. It would have been useful if they had told me the pharmacy was open.
‘It is strange because about two weeks ago my wife came here and there was a sign on the door saying: ‘Coronavirus. Keep out’. My wife saw the notice so she turned around and walked away. I spoke to the staff about it when I visited yesterday and they had had no idea it was there.
‘It appeared to be a prankster. I do not know who it was. Someone’s got a warped sense of humour’.
Mr Smart was one of many visitors on Saturday who successfully collected their prescriptions unperturbed by the news of the coronavirus.
One local woman said: ‘My husband was telling me, ‘don’t go there, there is coronavirus’, but the health centre has been deep cleaned. It is probably the safest place in the country.’
Health Secretary Matt Hancock admitted it was inevitable that coronavirus would become endemic – the medical term for a virus becoming permanently resident in a country. He insisted the Government was still trying to do all it could to contain and isolate the virus.
If that fails the next stage will be to try to delay its peak until the summer months, when pressure on the NHS should be lower. Professor Jonathan Ball of the University of Nottingham said spread of the virus ‘marked a new chapter for the UK’.
He added: ‘This is a virus that frequently causes symptoms very similar to mild flu or a common cold, and it’s easily transmitted from person to person. This means it can easily go under the radar.
‘It has a high likelihood of becoming one of the many respiratory viruses that circulate around the globe, peaking in winter months infecting those who are susceptible.’
Mr Hancock refused to rule out the scenario of entire cities being locked down – as has been done in China – although he stressed he wanted to avoid this in order to minimise disruption.
Announcing a ‘war room battle plan’, he said ‘population-distancing measures’ may become necessary – such as banning public gatherings, cancelling football matches and closing schools.
Mr Hancock said everyone had a duty to help stop the spread of coronavirus by regularly washing their hands.
Bharat Pankhania, a senior clinical lecturer at the University of Exeter Medical School, said we needed to ‘relearn’ personal hygiene practices. ‘Most of us are on autopilot when we cough and sneeze,’ he said.
‘We need to relearn good practice of carrying tissues and remember to cough or sneeze into a tissue and dispose of that promptly in a bin, and then immediately wash and dry hands.’
Dr Pankhania said the transmission of the virus within Britain was significant but that the cases so far have remained ‘sporadic and isolated’.
Professor Paul Hunter of the University of East Anglia said: ‘Although it may still be possible to prevent a community wide epidemic this is looking increasingly unlikely and we should be prepared to cope with a more widespread epidemic on our shores.
‘If the disease does become endemic – and I think it is quite possible – then we would see new cases perhaps appearing each winter for the foreseeable future.’
It comes as the handshake becomes a taboo method of greeting among professional workers amid fears of the spread of coronavirus in the workplace.
#StopShakingHands has become a commonly used phrase on Twitter as even German Chancellor Angela Merkel was refused when she went to shake the hands of attendees at a business event in her constituency.
One doctor today also claimed she has stopped shaking hands with new acquaintances, as a Google executive also revealed he would no longer employ the gesture in order to stop the spread of the virus.
Motivational speaker and presentation coach Richard McCann hosted an event in Leeds on Saturday and later posted a video that showed him greeting a man with an air handshake in a move he said was because of the ‘unfolding coronavirus situation’.
Posting to his social media accounts, Mr McCann revealed the video and questioned whether or not he was being paranoid for not shaking the hands of those attending his £300 per-ticket event.
Claiming he had ‘improvised’ his greeting he said: ‘Not sure if I’m being paranoid but due to the unfolding Coronavirus situation I decided not to shake hands with the delegates here at one of my training events’.
Public Health England says there are two main routes that can spread the infection with the first being from people who are within two metres of each other inhaling the infection into their lungs.
Its guidance adds: ‘It is also possible that someone may become infected by touching a surface, object or the hand of an infected person that has been contaminated with respiratory secretions and then touching their own mouth, nose, or eyes (such as touching door knob or shaking hands then touching own face).’
On Thursday one business in London also revealed that they had stopped employees from shaking hands with each other in a bid to curb the spread and contraction of the disease after several office buildings were closed.
It comes as other professionals warned that the disease can spread easily and that ultimately, people would eventually stop shaking hands due to the spread.
Speaking on Radio 4 this morning Dr Hannah Fry, who previously worked on an experiment to see how far and fast a virus could spread, claimed she has also stopped shaking hands.
Dr Fry had worked on documentary ‘Contagion: The BBC Four Pandemic’, that charted how the UK would be able to plan and cope for the next flu pandemic.
Rejected: German interior minister Horst Seehofer turns away Angela Merkel’s offer of a handshake this morning after revealing he had stopped shaking hands over virus fears. Just days ago Merkel had revealed she would not shake hands at an event in her constituency due to the outbreak
Richard McCann is seen above miming a handshake with an attendee at his event in Leeds before walking off stage
Elsewhere, Indonesia today became the latest country to be struck by the coronavirus after a mother and her daughter tested positive for the deadly infection.
The country’s president confirmed both Indonesian citizens caught the virus from an infected Japanese friend on the outskirts of the capital of Jakarta.
Almost 70 countries or territories around the world have now recorded coronavirus cases, including more than two dozen in the past week.
The crisis began in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December. Almost 90,000 patients worldwide have now been struck down, and 3,000 have died.
Iran today announced a huge spike in cases, saying at least 1,500 patients have been struck down across the country.
And the European Union’s disease control agency increased its risk level for the virus from moderate to high amid mounting fears on the continent.
The 64-year-old woman and her 31-year-old daughter got infected after coming into contact with a female Japanese friend.
President Joko Widodo said the woman, who lived in Malaysia and was a friend of the family, tested positive after her trip to Indonesia.
It is unclear where they caught the infection. The two Indonesian woman are the first known cases in the country.
Widodo added that both Indonesian patients – who were taken to Jakarta’s Sulianti Saroso hospital from their home in Depok – were ‘in a sick state’.
Asked about human behaviour and whether or not she was ‘still going around shaking hands’ with new acquaintances she said: ‘Goodness no. I think for me this was one of the biggest things of the TV programme, the simulations that we ran showed what might happen in the UK if there was no intervention what so ever and what might happen in the UK if just something as simple as people washing their hands between 5/10 times a day, the difference is remarkable.
‘I think the messages of coming out catch it bin it kill it make sure you wash your hands and avoid shaking hands with people can really make a genuine difference.’
One executive at Google also revealed that he had stopped shaking hands with people. Jaime Casap said on Thursday that he was nervous about catching the virus and said he wanted to help others by not shaking hands.
Indonesian authorities are now desperately tracing anyone who may have come into contact with the Japanese woman or the two new cases.
The daughter and the Japanese woman had gone dancing at a venue in Jakarta on February 14, the health ministry said.
The Japanese national had informed the daughter on February 28 that she had been infected. It is unclear when she went home.
Two other people sharing the house with the infected Indonesians had not shown symptoms of coronavirus.
Jakarta’s governor Anies Baswedan said he had set up a response team to help deal with the situation in the capital.
He said: ‘We need to move quickly to anticipate this, because Jakarta is the gateway to Indonesia.’
Indonesia’s first cases come after leading scientists warned it was ‘very unlikely’ the island nation had not yet been struck by the coronavirus.
Almost 100,000 people flew directly into the island nation from the city of Wuhan in November and December, according to figures.
This made it the sixth most frequently travelled route out of the city, which is the centre of the epidemic.
It comes after Iran was accused of failing to clamp down on coronavirus contamination after alarming videos of worshippers licking a shrine emerged online.
Clips shared on social media show people licking the doors and burial mound inside the Fatima Masumeh shrine in Qom, defying token advice by the health ministry.
Worshippers in the videos brazenly state they ‘don’t care what happens’, even if they catch or spread the infection which has killed at least 54 in the country.
Coronavirus fears have also hit Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, with people wearing masks as they walk through the city
Three women wear face masks as they walk through Banda Aceh, a city on the Indonesian island of Sumatra
Iran’s hardline clerical establishment has refused to shut down Qom despite the holy city suffering the brunt of the outbreak and pilgrims spreading the virus across the Middle East.
The country is battling medical shortages which are worsened by U.S. sanctions, with masks and testing kits in short supply.
There are also fears that Iran is covering up the true scale of the crisis, with official figures showing a suspiciously high death rate – suggesting there may be far more infections than the regime is willing to admit.
One person who kisses the shrine in the holy Shi’ite Muslem city demands people ‘stop scaring people [about] coronavirus. A child is even hailed for licking the doors.
Journalist Masih Alinejad, who tweeted the worrying clips, said that by keeping the religious sites open, the regime was ‘endangering the lives of Iranians and the world’.
Iran has the second highest death toll outside mainland China, and ministers in Tehran have stepped up efforts to prevent the spread, which has infected at least 978 people.
Every day trucks filled with disinfectants spray down streets, shrines, public parks, trash bins, public toilets and markets in Qom, Tehran and other areas that have had cases of infection. State TV showed workers wiping down metro and bus stations.
On Friday the first victim of a UK-to-UK transmission was identified in the commuter town of Haslemere, Surrey.
Officials have been unable to find out how he contracted the virus, but in tracking his contacts they identified three other adults – one in Surrey and two in West Sussex – who had become infected.
Worshippers in the videos brazenly state they ‘don’t care what happens’, (left) even if they catch or spread the infection which has killed at least 54 in the country. A child is even hailed for licking the doors (right)
Clips on social media have shown people licking the doors and the burial mound inside the Masumeh shrine
In a completely separate case, a patient who had been infected within Britain was identified yesterday in Essex. Officials are trying to understand how the two different groups of cases started.
In another case, a school worker tested positive at St Mary’s Primary in Tetley, Gloucestershire, after returning from northern Italy.
Another victim was identified as an employee of Willow Bank Infant School near Reading. Further cases were reported in London, Hertfordshire, Leeds, Bradford and Bury.
The Prime Minister said: ‘The number of coronavirus cases around the world is rising every day – and the UK is no exception.
‘There now seems little doubt that it will present a significant challenge for our country. But we are well prepared, and the Government and the NHS will stop at nothing to fight this virus. Our battle plan lays out in detail the measures we could use – if and when they are needed.’
Emergency powers set to be unveiled this week to help combat the virus include suspending rules about the maximum numbers of children that a single teacher can be responsible for.
The temporary measures will also allow for emergency medical registrations to create a ‘Dad’s Army’ of retired doctors to back up an already under-strain NHS.
Dr Susan Crossland, president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said a major outbreak would bring ‘immense stress’ to the NHS. ‘While the emergency planning measures put in place specifically for coronavirus have been good, the wider picture is one of grave concern,’ she said.
‘One of the huge problems we will see in the event of a widespread outbreak is a complete squeeze on elective surgery that will have huge implications for already dire patient waiting times and this directly relates to the under-funding of previous years.’
A Tayside resident who returned from Italy has become the first person in Scotland to be diagnosed with coronavirus, the Scottish Government said yesterday. The victim, who has not been named, has been admitted to hospital and is receiving treatment in isolation.
Scottish health officials are to begin testing some people with flu-like symptoms even if they have not visited affected areas.
In the wake of the first diagnosis in Scotland, Ms Sturgeon said: ‘Our first thoughts must be with the patient diagnosed with coronavirus, I wish them a speedy recovery.
‘Scotland is well-prepared for a significant outbreak of coronavirus but there is currently no treatment or vaccine.’ Ms Sturgeon will attend the COBRA meeting in London tomorrow, chaired by the Prime Minister.
Covid-19 seems to spread much like flu, through coughs and sneezes. Once contracted, it lives and replicates in the tissues that line the airways.
Secretions from these tissues – mucus and saliva – therefore also contain the virus. When an infected person coughs, sneezes, or simply talks, tiny droplets of moisture are expelled into the air, carrying the virus out of the body. Unless you are directly in the firing line, you should be safe. Droplets travel only up to 7ft.
But another risk comes when people cover their cough or sneeze with their hand and then touch something other people touch, such as a door knob or tap. Touch a contaminated surface, then touch your own mouth or nose, and the virus can be transmitted.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says the coronavirus can live on surfaces for several days. Günter Kampf of the University of Greifswald in Germany says such viruses can be killed by disinfectants such as alcohol or bleach – but many things we touch every day on transport or in public buildings are not frequently disinfected.
If 14 per cent of those infected develop a severe disease and five per cent of them are critically ill, it could be a ‘massive threat’ according to Dr Peter Openshaw, professor of experimental medicine at Imperial College London.
According to Alistair Miles, head of epidemiological informatics, Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics, people need to stop touching their faces to limit the spread.
He told The Times: ‘Stop touching your face. Especially stop touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Wash your hands often, especially before eating or touching food.
‘While a mask seems like a good idea, there isn’t a lot of good evidence that it can reliably prevent infection when worn by the public. But they are useful to put on a sick person to reduce their spreading of the virus.’
He said: ‘It looks unlikely this will be over quickly. It may be with us into next year and might eventually become a seasonal infection, returning each winter.’