The UK has seen its biggest daily increase in coronavirus cases, with people are now confirmed to have the virus.
Thirty-four new patients with COVID – 32 , the disease caused by coronavirus , were confirmed in the UK on Wednesday, with 36 in England and two in Scotland.
The Department of Health said three of the new cases in England contracted the virus in the UK, raising fears that community transmission may now be taking hold.
The Scottish patients were from the Grampian and Ayrshire areas. One had traveled to northern Italy and the other had had contact with a person who was known to have already tested positive for the disease.
It comes after England’s chief medical officer told Sky News that a serious coronavirus outbreak in Britain is “almost certain” with “some deaths” expected .
Professor Chris Whitty, who has been helping to coordinate the government planning for a potential COVID – 32 epidemic, highlighted a six-week window in which the UK’s action could be stepped up.
He told Sky News’ Kay Burley @ Breakfast show: “Although in the longer term we may well be needing people to take more extreme action, at this stage we do not think people need to change what they are doing in terms of their normal behavior.
“With all epidemics, what happens is they start off very slowly and then they gradually gather momentum and then they suddenly go up relatively fast.
” We usually have a reasonable period of warning Before that happens, and we are modeling this out quite carefully, from the time that we get established transmission in the UK … which I think at this time is more likely than not.
“Then there will be a number of weeks, probably about six weeks before we start to see a significant amount of transmission in the UK.
“It is not something we should be alarmed about, but something we should be prepared for and therefore respond to. “
He said the disease was spreading significantly across the world, including Europe, so it was unlikely the UK would “escape” a major hit, which he said could last for up to several months.
“Almost certain there will be more cases in the UK, probably a lot more cases … and we would expect some deaths,” he said.
The prime minister has announced new sick pay changes so that anyone self-isolating due to coronavirus is paid from day one rather than day four as current rules state.
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