Coronavirus: More may need to self-isolate to stop spread – NHS boss – BBC News, BBC News
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Many more people may be forced to self-isolate as part of efforts to stop the coronavirus spreading in Britain, the head of NHS England has warned.
Sir Simon Stevens said the group of more than 80 people discharged from quarantine on the Wirral on Thursday have set an “important example”.
It comes as officials attempt to trace the contacts of the ninth person to be diagnosed with coronavirus in the UK.
The woman, who flew into Heathrow from China, is being treated in London.
More than people who stayed in accommodation at Arrowe Park Hospital for two weeks are now leaving after testing negat ive for the new strain of coronavirus.
They are one of two groups of British nationals evacuated from Wuhan, with the second quarantined near Milton Keynes.
Sir Simon thanked those in quarantine for being “responsible, pragmatic and stoical” during their isolation in nurses’ rooms at Arrowe Park.
“They have set an important example, recognizing that over the coming weeks many more of us may need to self-isolate at home for a period to reduce this virus’s spread,” he said.
Matt Raw, one of those quarantined on the Wirral, said as he left the accommodation block: “It is absolutely lovely to be out and I’ll no doubt be going out for a pint a little bit later.”
And an unsigned note placed onto a window at the facility read: “I was a little anxious as to how I would be received. I needn’t have been … You made us feel welcome. “
Health Secretary Matt Hancock expressed his gratitude to those leaving Arrowe Park on Thursday and said people” can be reassured that their departure presents no risk to the public. ”
The new case – announced on Wednesday evening – is the UK’s ninth and the first to be identified in London.
England’s chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, said the woman contracted the virus in China and sources said she developed symptoms after landing, called NHS 405 and later tested positive.
She is now being treated at a specialist unit at Guys and St Thomas’ hospital.
‘Contain and delay’
Prof Whitty told BBC Radio 4’s Today program it was hoped China “gets on top of the epidemic”.
But he said that containment and isolation remain the focus for medical teams – and that w ork was now under way to establish how to delay any potential outbreak in the UK.
He said: “We basically have a strategy which depends upon four tactical aims: the first one is to contain; the second of these is to delay; the third of these is to do the science and the research; and the fourth is to mitigate so we can brace the NHS. “
Prof Whitty added:” If we are going to get an outbreak here in the UK – and this is an if not a when – then putting it back in time, into the summer period away from the winter pressures on the NHS, buying us a bit more time to understand the virus better, possibly having some seasonal advantage, is a big advantage. ”
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