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Coronavirus: Britons quarantined on cruise ship off San Francisco UK confirms 163 coronavirus cases after highest daily rise so far
(about 5 hours later)
All onboard Grand Princess confined to rooms, while positive cases in UK rise to 116 Number of cases up 40% on previous day and includes two British Airways staff
The number of coronavirus cases in the UK has risen by 47 – the highest daily increase to date – to 163, as two British Airways baggage handlers tested positive for Covid-19.
The Department of Health said the new cases, a 40% increase on the previous day, mean there are now 29 cases in London, 24 in south-east England, 22 in the south-west and 21 in the north-west.
The previous biggest numerical daily increase was the 36 new cases announced on Wednesday, when the total number stood at 87, just over half the current amount.
A British Airways spokesman said two staff members had been isolated and were recovering at home after Public Health England confirmed they had tested positive.
The airline confirmed the two staff members were baggage handlers will raise fears that they may have inadvertently spread the disease. They are both based at Heathrow airport.
It is possible to pick up the virus on your hands from a surface that somebody with the infection had touched, although it is more likely to be transmitted by other means. The virus can linger for 48 hours or even possibly 72 hours on a hard surface, which is why such an emphasis is placed on handwashing.
The travel industry has already been hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak. The contagion proved the last straw for the Exeter-based airline Flybe, which collapsed into administration on Thursday. On Wednesday , the German airline Lufthansa grounded 150 planes amid low demand.
A Heathrow spokesperson said: “A dedicated Public Health England team is operating at Heathrow to respond to any incidents at the airport, and we are working closely with them to ensure our colleagues are following their latest guidance in its entirety to protect themselves and our passengers.
“In line with Public Health England’s advice, we have enhanced thorough cleaning processes, increased the availability and provision of hand-sanitisers for our colleagues and continue to advise anyone working or travelling through the airport to follow the government’s advice to maintain good hand hygiene.”
A man who died at Milton Keynes University hospital in Buckinghamshire on Friday is understood to have tested positive in one of two tests to confirm the illness. The second test has yet to be carried out.
The first coronavirus death in the UK was confirmed on Thursday. She was a woman in her 70s with underlying health conditions who who was admitted to the Royal Berkshire hospital in Reading on Wednesday.
The other cases are in the east of England (11), the Midlands (12) and the north-east and Yorkshire (13). The location of a further 15 cases has not been provided. A further 20,175 people have tested negative across the UK.
As the number of cases continues to grow a £46m fund has been announced by the government in an effort to find a vaccine and come up with quicker testing for the illness.
Officials from the Department for International Development hope the money will help in the development of the eight possible coronavirus vaccines being worked on by scientists.
The investment comes as Boris Johnson visited Mologic laboratory in Bedfordshire, which is using some of the aid funding to develop tests for medical professionals and potentially, home testing.
A rapid diagnostic test could also be used by low-income countries around the world that are not currently able to diagnose the virus at all.
The government has said British experts are at the forefront of fighting the virus.
Public Health England (PHE) called on members of the public to “plan ahead” for if they had to self-isolate for a couple of weeks.
In two new blogposts, PHE said more people may be asked to self-isolate at home to help slow the spread of coronavirus, while “social distancing” measures such as not going to cinemas, pubs or sporting events may be needed in the future.
At least 142 Britons are among more than 2,000 passengers and crew being quarantined on a cruise ship off the coast of California because of fears they may have been exposed to the coronavirus.At least 142 Britons are among more than 2,000 passengers and crew being quarantined on a cruise ship off the coast of California because of fears they may have been exposed to the coronavirus.
No one was allowed to leave the Grand Princess, which was stuck off the coast of San Francisco, with guests being confined to their rooms pending test results. Meals were delivered to their cabins and they had been given free internet access and extra films to watch on the onboard televisions, Princess Cruises said.No one was allowed to leave the Grand Princess, which was stuck off the coast of San Francisco, with guests being confined to their rooms pending test results. Meals were delivered to their cabins and they had been given free internet access and extra films to watch on the onboard televisions, Princess Cruises said.
Last week a passenger on its sister ship, the Diamond Princess, which was quarantined in Japan, became the first UK citizen to die from the virus. The first coronavirus death on UK soil occurred on Thursday when an older woman with underlying health issues died at the Royal Berkshire hospital. Last week, a passenger on its sister ship, the Diamond Princess, which was quarantined in Japan, became the first UK citizen to die from the virus.
The number of people in the UK to have tested positive for Covid-19 has risen to 116. The health secretary, Matt Hancock, said the government was working with supermarkets to ensure food supplies were maintained as the number of people self-isolating with the virus was expected to rise.
Hancock told BBC’s Question Time on Thursday night there would not be food shortages. “The government has supplies of the key things that are needed, and, within the food supply, we are absolutely confident that there won’t be a problem there. And, crucially, we are working to makes sure that if people are self-isolating, they will be able to get the food and supplies that they need.”
He said: “The very, very strong advice from the scientists, from the medics, is that people should not go buying more than they need.”
The chief executive of NHS providers, Chris Hopson, said the health service was rapidly preparing to cope with the virus and that no other country was better equipped to deal with the crisis than the UK.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Hopson said all acute hospitals were being equipped to handle coronavirus patients so they did not have to be transported to regional centres, and more pathology laboratories were now able to test for the virus on site. Hospitals were also creating isolated wards for patients with the disease to separate them from people with other conditions, he said.
Hospitals were considering increasing ambulance capacity because each time a vehicle transported a suspected coronavirus patient it then went out of service for deep cleaning, he said. The NHS was also increasing capacity on the 111 phone line.
Hopson admitted the NHS was under pressure, with ambulance response times lengthening and people struggling to get through on the 111 line. However, he said: “When you talk to the experts at the World Health Organization (WHO) and say: ‘Would you rather be in South Korea, Italy, America, China?’ everybody, virtually, says the UK is one of, if not the best place to be, because we have a national health service with fantastically trained staff, where we are used to dealing with these emergencies.”
The government’s chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, told Today that those most likely to die from the virus were people aged over 80, and it was not yet clear whether younger people with immune deficiencies or vulnerabilities were at risk.
“We are not seeing anything yet that suggests there is a significant mortality rate in the under 60s,” Vallance said. “There will be people who are more vulnerable, have diseases that make them immuno-suppressed, and there might be people on drugs that might make them immuno-suppressed who might be at risk.”
He said a vaccine against coronavirus would not be developed in time to immunise people during the current outbreak.
However, he said, clinical trials had begun around the world to test the efficiency of anti-viral drugs against Covid-19 and the UK would want to take part in these before long.
“I don’t think we will get something at time and at scale for this outbreak. That said, there have been remarkable changes in the ability to make vaccines and discover vaccines, just in the last few years, and so things have progressed much more quickly then they would have done in the past. And it’s not unreasonable to assume we will end up with a vaccine and we will do so within a year, 18 months, which is remarkable when you consider just a few years ago it would have taken 20 years to do that.”