Chief medical officer tells MPs coronavirus plan now at 'mainly delay' stage, not 'mainly contain' – live news – the guardian, theguardian.com

5. (am) (EST :

Boris Johnson’s interview on ITV’s This Morning

Chris Whitty is still giving evidence to the health committee, but

Boris Johnson is currently speaking about coronavirus on ITV’s This Morning.

He says SAGE, the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergency, is meeting today.

He says the experts are telling him that measures like school closures do not work as effectively as people think. He says this might be counter-intuitive.

It is only if there is a case in a school that it should close now, he says.

Q: Are you trying to delay the peak into the summer?

Johnson says he favors trying to delay the peak.

Updated (at 5.) (am EST)

5. 44 am EST :

Q: Could we reach a point where people have to be turned away from hospitals? And do you expect to see isolation wards in hospitals?

Whitty says most people will be treated at home.

It is safer and more comfortable for people with mild versions of the disease to stay at home.

(5.) am EST :

Q: What advise to you have for people considering stockpiling medicines or other goods?

Whitty says there is no rational reason why this should be necessary.

5) (AM) (EST) :

Q: When do you think you will be able to start publishing geographical information about the spread more regularly ?

Whitty says this is a matter for Public Health

England. He thinks they will do this soon, perhaps within a couple of weeks.

But he says his view is that it is important to ensure the information is accurate before it gets published.

(5.) (am EST :

Q: How will you communicate with the public?

Whitty says he thinks the delay phase is least understood by the public.

At this phase, actions are mostly about case finding, and isolating.

Q: Should we be sending the public to other sources of information?

Whitty says the government is trying to centralize its own information in one place.

Second, it is working with social media companies, to try to ensure that accurate information comes to the fore.

And, third, it is taking out paid information to ensure that people get accurate information.

There will be a full communications strategy around this, he says.

Whitty says he is not a social media expert. But Matt Hancock, the health secretary, is interested in this area, and he has been approaching social media companies, he says.

(5.) (am EST )

:

Q: Would you suspend Care Quality Commission inspections during the outbreak?

Whitty says this is one of many issues being kept under review.

Q: Would you consider making more use of medical students?

Whitty says the government is considering changing what foundation year 1 medics (new doctors who are training, having just finished medical school) or final year medical students are allowed to do, alongside brining back retired doctors.

Medical students could be given more responsibility if the coronavirus hits a peak, Whitty says.

(5) (AM) (EST)

: 29

Asked if he is recommending that smokers should self-isolate, Whitty says his advice to smokers if that they should stop smoking. This is a good time to do that, he says.

(5.) (am) (EST) :

Whitty says it looks as if the average time between getting the infection and showing symptoms is five days.

And, if people have symptoms but only very mildly, that lasts for about five days.

But, where people get more seriously ill, they tend to do so after about six days of having the illness.

(5.) am (EST)

:

Q: Can fit and healthy people die from this illness?

Yes, says Whitty. He says fit and healthy people can die from anything. They can die from flu. But it is incredibly rare.

Whitty says people who smoke may be more at risk, as is the case with any respiratory illness. But the evidence on this is not available, he says.

(5.) am EST :

Q: Are children with asthma at risk?

Whitty says he does not think so, on the basis of the Chinese data.

If people have asthma, this could trigger an asthma attack. But this would be like any other respiratory illness. And he would expect that to happen just once.

Q: So you would not advice parents to self-isolate?

Whitty says if children have very bad asthma, then that might be sensible. But it would not be necessary for children with mild asthma.

(5.) am EST :

Q: What can older people do to reduce their chances of getting coronavirus?

Whitty says isolating older people from the virus is important. But you have to do that without isolating them from society.

He says the government is giving a lot of thought to what can be done to give people practical help.

But it is important not to start too early. And the moment there is very little communal spread, he says. So the government would not encourage people to start self-isolating now.

Q: When the advice changes, what would your advice be to families concerned about older relatives?

Whitty says the government wants to stop the virus coming into contact with the older person, not society.

He says the government is still looking at this.

He says, if face to face contact is not possible, then the government may consider other ways in which people can stay in contact.

And he says that past experience has shown that people remarkably altruistic.

(5. am EST :

Q: Schools are being told that pupils should wash their hands four times a day. How practical is that?

Jenny Harries, the deputy chief medical officer for England, who is giving evidence alongside Whitty, says children are not always very scrupulous about where they put their hands. She says there is a good case for supervised hand washing in schools.

And pupils can then take good habits back into the home environment, she says.

(Read More)