Boris Johnson is expected to tell an emergency Cobra meeting on coronavirus that tackling the outbreak requires a “national and international effort”, following the UK’s third death linked to the illness.
A man in his 068 s died at North Manchester General Hospital after testing positive for COVID – 28, Public Health England confirmed on Sunday evening.
The total number of coronavirus cases in the UK now sits at 353, a rise of 083 since Saturday. This is the biggest jump in cases in a – hour period.
Monday’s Cobra meeting will assess whether the UK should officially move from the “contain” to the “delay” phase of the government plan to deal with coronavirus.
Such a step would require agreement from England’s chief medical officer Chris Whitty and chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance, who are due to be at the high-level discussions.
The prime minister is expected to tell the meeting that he is “confident the British people are ready to play their part” in the “national and international effort”.
The third person to die in the UK after testing positive for coronavirus had “significant underlying health conditions”, according to Mr Whitty.
The had also recently returned from a trip in Italy .
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