Two more cases of the killer coronavirus have been confirmed in the UK today, both of them travellers who caught the virus in Europe – including one who is believed to have returned from a hotel in Tenerife where 160 Britons are quarantined.
The second new case is a person who travelled from northern Italy, where an escalating crisis has left Britain and the rest of the continent engulfed with fear and confusion.
One victim, believed to be the parent of a child at Burbage Primary School in Derbyshire, was infected in Tenerife. It’s thought they stayed at the four-star Costa Adeje Palace Hotel, where hundreds of holidaymakers are currently being quarantined because of an outbreak.
Fears have now been raised that hundreds more Brits who stayed at the resort before a two-week quarantine was imposed could have caught the infection but have not yet been diagnosed. More than 82,000 people across the world have caught the virus, which has killed 2,800 – Antarctica is the only continent yet to record a case.
The Department of Health has not confirmed where in Britain either case is from and refused to say if the parent from Derbyshire was one of the two cases. But both the school and a local GP surgery were on lockdown today for a deep clean because of a confirmed coronavirus infection.
Fifteen cases of the deadly infection have now been confirmed on British soil – until today all of them had been linked to the Far East. The virus has yet to spread between humans in the UK.
All four coronavirus cases diagnosed in Tenerife were Italian holidaymakers at the Costa Adeje Palace Hotel, where British travellers have begged Prime Minister Boris Johnson to ‘come rescue us’ after Spanish officials announced they would be quarantined until March 10 in a desperate attempt to contain the virus.
Top-level talks are taking place between British diplomats, Spanish politicians and health chiefs to discuss the idea of flying the stranded tourists back to the UK in a ‘Wuhan-style’ evacuation.
Coronavirus fears have now gripped the UK, with medics dressed in hazmat suits attending to patients. Growing fears have led to businesses sending workers home, sporting events postponed and schools – including Dulwich Prep, one of Britain’s most prestigious private schools – being shut down.
Families have even resorted to panic buying nappies, toilet roll, soup, tinned fruit, pet food, medicine, bottled water and wine. Others have set up ‘isolation’ rooms at home.
Further afield, Germany and France today warned of the ‘start of an epidemic’, as Europe scrambles to contain a coronavirus outbreak spreading from Italy across the continent. Denmark, Estonia, Switzerland, Romania, North Macedonia, Greece, Norway and Georgia have all recorded their first cases in the last two days.
Burbage Primary School in Buxton, Derbyshire, told parents and carers about the case last night. However, health chiefs have yet to confirm if it is correct (the school is pictured today)
Health chiefs revealed one of the patients has been quarantined at the Royal Liverpool Hospital (pictured)
The other patient was taken to the Royal Free Hospital in north London, one of a handful of specialist infectious disease centres in the UK
More than 500 cases of the killer coronavirus have now been recorded across Europe, with 453 of them in Italy
A staff member cleans the swimming pool of the H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel in Tenerife, where hundreds of holidaymakers have been quarantined because of a coronavirus outbreak
A woman looks out of a window at the four-star resort, which has recorded all four of the island’s coronavirus cases
Two tourists wearing face masks are seen next to one who isn’t by the pool of the H10 Costa Adeje Palace, which is on lockdown after a coronavirus outbreak
Two holidaymakers trapped in the hotel smile and wave for a photographer. Hotel guests will be quarantined until March 10
The school’s head Anthony Tierney was on site early this morning to deal with concerned parents. He confirmed that the gates would remain closed for the day. Pictured, the message that was sent to parents
The Buxton Medical Practice was shut this morning, and patients ringing to book an appointment were told that it was because an infected patient had visited the GP surgery – despite official advice not to
A note on a window at the Buxton Medical Practice in Buxton reads: ‘We have a confirmed case of coronavirus.’ It added that the GP surgery was liaising with health officials
LONDON STOCK MARKET FALLS TO A 13-MONTH LOW OVER CORONAVIRUS FEARS AS MICROSOFT ISSUES FINANCIAL WARNING
The FTSE 100 index of the UK’s biggest listed companies has now fallen more than 7 per cent in the past four days, and fell 2.6 per cent in early trading on Thursday
The London stock market fell to a 13-month low today as coronavirus fears continue to grip investors with shares also slumping across Asia.
The FTSE 100 index of the UK’s biggest listed companies has now fallen more than 7 per cent in the past four days, and fell 2.6 per cent in early trading on Thursday.
The losses mirrored earlier slumps in Asia with Japan ‘s Nikkei 225 index falling 2.1 per cent and the Kospi in South Korea, where 334 new cases of the virus were reported, dropped one per cent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and the Australian S&P ASX/200both both lost 0.8 per cent.
The losses continue a dire week on the global markets with US stocks suffering the worst two-day losing streak in two years on Monday and Tuesday.
Microsoft today issued a financial warning as the coronavirus outbreak disrupts its Chinese supply chain for Windows and Surface devices.
The Washington-based tech firm has cautioned it will not reach the sales predictions for this quarter that it had issued to investors last month as production hits delays.
Sales had previously been anticipated at between $10.75 billion–$11.15 billion (£8.33 billion–£8.64 billion). Microsoft has not yet provided a revised estimate.
In other developments to the escalating coronavirus crisis:
- Pope Francis has cancelled a planned Mass in Rome with other clergy after suffering a ‘slight illness’ – it comes a day after he kissed heads and touched faces as he met with crowds in St Peter’s Square
- Insurers were slammed by doctors for demanding sick notes for travellers trying to get a refund and cancel trips to countries with coronavirus outbreaks
- Staff at Southampton University NHS Trust have been asked to shave their beards to allow masks to fit more securely in a bid to limit the spread of coronavirus
- Microsoft issued a financial warning as the coronavirus outbreak disrupts its Chinese supply chain for Windows and Surface devices
- The London Stock Exchange dropped to a new 13-month low and traders warned that the coronavirus could lead to ‘anaemic global growth’
- Standard Chartered warned the coronavirus outbreak, as well as other factors including political unrest in Hong Kong, look set to deliver a big hit to its bottom line
- Restaurants warned of a slump in bookings because of fears more cases in the UK, which is also causing a shortage of wedding dresses
- Employers were urged not to shut offices as Matt Hancock warned an ‘over-reaction’ to the spate of cases in the UK could harm the economy
- The Health Secretary also announced plans to extend home-testing for the coronavirus, stopping suspected patients from needing to travel and potentially spreading the virus
- Saudi Arabia banned religious pilgrims from visiting Mecca or Medina to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the Kingdom
- Organisers of the Australian Grand Prix announced the race will go ahead next month despite the continuing global concern over the spread of coronavirus
- Private schools are being urged not to overreact to the coronavirus crisis because parents will demand their money back if they close or send students home
- NHS chiefs launched a public coronavirus campaign telling people to wash their hands for 20 seconds before eating and after using public transport
- Ireland’s rugby match against Italy on Saturday was postponed amid fears Italian fans could bring the virus to Dublin
It was also revealed today that Britons are panic buying nappies, toilet roll, soup, tinned fruit, pet food, medicine, bottled water, wine and even setting up ‘isolation’ rooms at home in case coronavirus shuts down their communities.
Families are stockpiling reserves to ensure their homes are ‘fit for a pandemic’ with some purchasing new chest freezers to fill with food and portable camp toilets to avoid sharing a loo if a relative tests positive for the killer virus.
A shortage of germ-killing antibacterial gel has seen a spurt in sales of surgical spirit on eBay and Amazon by people desperate to sanitise their hands, with Boots sold out online today.
Video footage today showed paramedics wearing hazmat suits entering a house just hours before the new UK cases of coronavirus were confirmed. Two men in white overalls and breathing masks were recorded walking into a terraced house in Liverpool city centre last night. An ambulance was parked outside
A passenger on the Jubilee line of the London Underground wears a face mask today. Fifteen cases of coronavirus have now been confirmed in the UK
A passenger walks along the platform of the Leicester Square London Underground station while wearing a face mask
Four pupils at Thomas’s Battersea School, the same one that is attended by Prince George and Princess Charlotte, have been sent home after showing coronavirus symptoms following a trip to Italy
Pope Francis has cancelled an event at the Vatican due to a ‘slight illness’, a day after he was pictured coughing and blowing his nose during Ash Wednesday Mass
Earlier in the day Francis had met with crowds in St Peter’s Square where he touched hands and kissed faces, despite warnings over coronavirus
On social media one panicked Briton revealed that they have turned one small room in their house into an ‘isolation zone’ equipped with cooking equipment, bedding and food if they have to be in quarantine for a fortnight.
Another Mumsnet user said: ‘I’ve cleaned and prepped the farm caravan so if needed it could be an isolation suite. Useful place to store surplus supplies, tinned food etc as well’.
Others are drawing up spreadsheets of the items they need to buy to last them weeks or months in self-isolation.
Professor Ratula Chakraborty, professor of business management at the University of East Anglia (UEA), said: ‘The prospect of whole towns being in lockdown and shops closed is heightening the fear and stockpiling may become rife’.
England’s chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty confirmed the new cases today. He said: ‘Two further patients in England have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of UK cases to 15.
‘The virus was passed on in Italy and Tenerife and the patients have been transferred to specialist NHS infection centres in Royal Liverpool Hospital and the Royal Free Hospital, London.’
Health chiefs did not confirm when the patients had returned to the UK, raising fears they may have passed the virus on. Leading scientists have said the new cases ‘are not surprising’.
Thousands of British families jetted off to Europe last week for half-term breaks, with northern Italy and Tenerife popular destinations.
The Sun also reported that one of the patients was the Derbyshire parent and that they had been to the hotel in Tenerife, where guests have complained about the ‘absolutely awful’ situation with parents left without nappies.
Empty playing fields behind the Burbage Primary School in Buxton
A woman wears a face mask on the London Underground today, as fears of the coronavirus outbreak grip Britain
BRITISH MOTHER TRAPPED IN QUARANTINED TENERIFE HOTEL SAYS GUESTS ARE IGNORING STRICT RULES TO CURB THE SPREAD
Lara Pennington (pictured), said guests at the Tenerife hotel are flouting quarantine rules and risking spreading the virus
A ‘frightened’ British mother trapped in a coronavirus-stricken Tenerife hotel said today guests are ignoring quarantine rules and she fears it is likely to become another Diamond Princess cruise ship disaster.
Lara Pennington, who is on holiday with her two young sons and elderly in-laws, said guests at the Costa Adeje Palace Hotel are failing to follow measures to prevent the spread of the deadly coronavirus.
‘The Spanish government were advising that if we wanted to we could leave our rooms as long as we were wearing masks and washing hands,’ the 45-year-old, from Manchester, told GMB.
‘It’s clearly apparent there are large numbers who are not following that process. Containment strategy is clearly not working, it was never going to work. It should be an enforced quarantine.’
Mrs Pennington said she has decided to self-isolate her family in the hotel room to ensure they don’t catch the disease, which has already claimed the lives of 2,771 people worldwide.
Mrs Pennington is one of at least 160 Britons holed up in the four-star Costa Adeje Palace Hotel resort after Spanish authorities padlocked its doors when four guests from Italy tested positive yesterday.
She told GMB this morning that her family has still to be tested for the illness and had only been provided with thermometers to check whether they were are infected. She added that guests are ‘frightened’.
Yesterday, she said guests were still out by the pool, ‘spreading the virus’. She said: ‘I feel there are lessons that should have been learned from the cruise ship [Diamond Princess].’
Frustrated guests said they were desperate to return home amid a chaotic attempt to control COVID-19 from spreading. At least 160 British travellers have been holed up in the four-star resort after Spanish authorities padlocked its doors when four guests from Italy tested positive.
But British guests yesterday voiced their frustration at the ‘absolutely awful’ situation and said they had been given conflicting information about how long the enforced stay would last.
As the Foreign Office began contacting Britons last night telling them they must remain at the hotel until March 10, some complained that staying putt placed them at increased risk.
Mandy Davis, who is on holiday with her husband Roger, said: ‘Nobody knows what the right thing to do is, because nobody’s had this virus before. So please, let’s sort something out, come and rescue us please, Boris. And let’s just get the hell out of here.’
A man from Derbyshire, who travelled to the H10 Hotel in Tenerife for four nights with his partner said ‘none of the Brits staying here feel safe’. They were due to fly back on Tuesday but are now being held in quarantine.
Coronavirus chaos has gripped Britain, with the UK now waking up to the fact the outbreak is an impending crisis and no longer just an issue in Asia as cases in Italy continue to accelerate.
Across the UK, at least 13 schools have closed over fears of the virus spreading while at least 20 more – including Harrow School today – have sent pupils and teachers home for a fortnight after coming down with colds and coughs after ski trips to coronavirus-hit Italy over half term.
Prince George and Princess Charlotte’s private school last night became the latest to send pupils home for coronavirus isolation. Four pupils at the Thomas’s Battersea school in southwest London were sent home and are awaiting test results.
But Public Health England (PHE) said that its general advice is not to close schools – a message echoed by Health Secretary Matt Hancock. However, some headteachers have taken evasive action and shut down schools after staff and students came down with ‘mild flu-like symptoms’ after returning from the Alps.
Video footage today showed paramedics wearing hazmat suits entering a house just hours before the new UK cases of coronavirus were confirmed. Two men in white overalls and breathing masks were recorded walking into a terraced house in Liverpool city centre last night. An ambulance was parked outside.
The two new cases were confirmed after parents of pupils at Burbage Primary School in Buxton, Derbyshire, were told the school would be closed on Thursday due to a ‘confirmed case of coronavirus amongst our parent population’.
Burbage Primary School, in Buxton, which has 350 pupils, sent a message to parents via WhatsApp on Wednesday night saying the decision had been taken as a ‘precautionary measure and to enable a deep clean to be completed’.
Coronavirus fears have gripped Britain, with one commuter on the London Underground this morning pictured wearing what appears to be a gas mask
The Buxton Medical Practice was shut this morning, and patients ringing to book an appointment were told that it was because an infected patient had visited the GP surgery – despite official advice not to.
A telephone message told patients: ‘We have a confirmed case if coronavirus, we are currently liaising with Public Health England and the CCG to ensure all appropriate actions are taken. Please do not come to the practice, if you need medical attention call NHS 111.’
The decision to close Burbage Primary School, which has 350 pupils, had been taken as a ‘precautionary measure’, according to a WhatsApp message sent to parents by headteacher Anthony Tierney.
The message read: ‘Dear parents and carers, due to a confirmed case of coronavirus amongst our parent population, Burbage Primary School will be CLOSED tomorrow (Thursday 27 February 2020) as a precautionary measure and to enable a deep clean to be completed. A further update will be shared tomorrow. Thank you.’
Mr Tierney was on site early this morning to deal with concerned parents, who were last night panicked after receiving the message which was sent out just before 11pm last night.
Many complained about the lack of a full explanation as to whether the infected parent has actually been on the school premises.
Professor Whitty yesterday admitted that school closures are a future possibility if the coronavirus takes hold in the UK, after Mr Hancock said they don’t need to shut for suspected cases.
Contradictory messages from the government have led to widespread confusion and caused headteachers to take matters into their own hands and defy official advice.
In separate guidance yesterday, Mr Hancock urged British employers not to shut their offices. He warned an ‘over-reaction’ to the handful of cases recorded in the UK could harm the economy.
He also confirmed anyone who has to self-isolate because of coronavirus will get paid sick leave. Guidance was sent to UK employers, informing them staff who are asked to quarantine themselves are entitled to sick leave.
Holidaymakers who are sick or elderly and want to cancel plans to travel to destinations hit by coronavirus could be denied refunds because insurers are demanding sick notes from doctors, it has been claimed.
The Telegraph reports that in a survey of 11 major insurers, at least seven would only consider refunding trips to the elderly or the sick to destinations with coronavirus outbreaks if the customer can provide a doctor’s sick note.
But this has angered GPs, who say it is not their responsibility to decide who is fit to travel and who is not and they are being told not to issue notes.
Dr Richard Vautrey, the GP committee chair at the British Medical Association said it was ‘completely inappropriate’ for customers to approach their family doctors for sick notes.
A commuters in London wears a face mask while climbing an escalator at Holborn underground station this morning
A man arrives at Euston Underground this morning wearing a mask, as coronavirus fears continue to mount in the UK
A woman in Milan – the capital of the Lombardy region, which has been battered by an outbreak – wears a face mask as she walks through a market
Paul Godfrey claims he was left coughing in a packed hospital waiting room despite showing symptoms of coronavirus after returning from Italy
He said: ‘Practices are under intense pressure, especially at this time of year, and this is not a good use of GP time, taking doctors away from treating ill patients coming through their doors.
‘We would strongly advise our members that they do not need to respond to such requests from travel operators or insurers’
Instead, he suggested patients could request a summary of their pre-existing health conditions from their doctor for a fee – but it is unclear if insurers will accept a generic medical history as proof a person is unfit to travel to a coronavirus hit area.
Those who are booked to travel to an area where the Foreign Office advises against going to due to coronavirus, don’t need a sick note to claim on their travel insurance.
Security officer Keith Braithwaite filmed two men in hazmat suits in Liverpool last night and said he feared the coronavirus was to blame as soon as he saw the medics.
The 58-year-old said: ‘At first I had no idea what was going on and I thought it might be a crime scene. But there was no police and just that one ambulance.
‘As soon as I saw the suits I thought it might be the virus straight away. It is worrying that it might be in Liverpool, close to home. It is a concern.’
In European developments, Germany and France have warned of the ‘start of an epidemic’ as the continent scrambles to contain a coronavirus outbreak spreading from Italy, where 453 cases of the killer infection have been confirmed.
Supermarket shelves were left empty in Italy and Romania as panicking shoppers rushed to prepare for a quarantine.
In Germany yesterday a train was stopped for two hours with a fleet of emergency workers descending on a remote station after a passenger returning from Italy showed symptoms of the virus on board.
A soldier in the German air force has also tested positive after having contact with the man, whose wife works at a kindergarten and also has the virus.
The country’s health minister Jens Spahn warned yesterday that ‘we are at the beginning of a coronavirus epidemic in Germany’. French president Emmanuel Macron echoed those fears today, declaring that ‘we are facing an epidemic’.
It comes as a Briton suspected of having coronavirus after returning from Italy claims he was left coughing in a packed NHS hospital waiting room without a mask – sparking fears the UK is not prepared for an outbreak.
Paul Godfrey, from Walsall, West Midlands, sat in the foyer ‘for 10 minutes’ among sick, old and frail members of the public before panicked medics in hazmat suits whisked him into a cubicle and tested him for the killer virus.
He was wrongly told to go to hospital by NHS 111 operators after returning from Milan on Friday and developing flu-like symptoms the following day.
That advice contradicts official infection control guidelines which state anybody suspected of having the highly contagious illness should self-isolate immediately and avoid coming into contact with others.
Alarm: A fleet of emergency workers and a halted train at Idar-Oberstein station in Germany yesterday after a passenger showed possible virus symptoms
Empty shelves: Supermarkets were stripped of supplies in Romania (pictured) as panic-buying shoppers rushed to prepare for a coronavirus quarantine
In other developments, restaurants in Britain have warned of a slump in bookings as the coronavirus outbreak continues to sweep across the world.
The owner of Clifford’s, an upmarket restaurant in central London, claimed to have 26 cancellations yesterday, telling The Times most were because of concerns of the virus spreading in crowded places.
The newspaper also reported that a seafood restaurant in Edinburgh had also been affected but that sources in the British hospitality industry have yet to see an impact elsewhere in the UK.
And the London stock market fell to a 13-month low today as coronavirus fears continue to grip investors with shares also slumping across Asia.
The FTSE 100 index of the UK’s biggest listed companies has now fallen more than 7 per cent in the past four days, and fell 2.6 per cent in early trading on Thursday.
The losses mirrored earlier slumps in Asia with Japan’s Nikkei 225 index falling 2.1 per cent and the Kospi in South Korea, where 334 new cases of the virus were reported, dropped one per cent.
The losses continue a dire week on the global markets with US stocks suffering the worst two-day losing streak in two years on Monday and Tuesday.
Microsoft today issued a financial warning as the coronavirus outbreak disrupts its Chinese supply chain for Windows and Surface devices.
The Washington-based tech firm has cautioned it will not reach the sales predictions for this quarter that it had issued to investors last month as production hits delays.
Sales had previously been anticipated at between $10.75 billion–$11.15 billion (£8.33 billion–£8.64 billion). Microsoft has not yet provided a revised estimate.
Standard Chartered has warned that the coronavirus outbreak, political unrest in Hong Kong, sluggish global economic growth and low interest rates look set to deliver a big hit to its bottom line.
The Asia-focused FTSE 100 firm said the ‘external shocks’ meant its income growth would end up lower than its medium-term forecast of between 5 and 7 per cent.
Private schools across Britain are being urged not to overreact to the coronavirus crisis because parents will demand their money back if they close or send students home, MailOnline revealed today.
A German primary school in Gangelt near the Dutch border is closed today (pictured) after a woman who works at a local kindergarten was infected along with her husband
French president Emmanuel Macron visits medical staff at the Pitie-Salpetriere hospital in Paris today, where he said the country was facing an ‘epidemic’
Many of Britain’s independent schools ran ski trips over half term and several chose the Alps in Italy – Europe’s coronavirus epicentre where 12 people have died in the week.
Private schools typically charge more than £100 per day per pupil, meaning parents could be losing out and the Independent Schools Association say parents at its 500-plus member schools are likely to ask for a refund if their child’s education is disrupted.
The headteacher at Prince George and Princess Charlotte’s £19,000-a-year prep school, Thomas’s Battersea, is among the dozens who have shut or sent pupils home over infection fears after children and staff returned from virus-hit parts of the world.
The fee-paying Cransley School in Northwich, Cheshire, is shut all week after 34 pupils and staff skied in Lombardy last week with headmaster Richard Pollock ‘regardless’ of official advice from the Government that it isn’t necessary.
It comes as the Queen’s granddaughter Zara Phillips and husband Mike Tindall have reportedly opted not to quarantine themselves because they are not showing symptoms.
They have returned from a ski trip in Bormio, Lombardy – one of Italy’s worst-hit regions. Mr Tindall – a former England rugby player – shared several photos of their trip last week.
The NHS has also announced that a public awareness campaign will be launched next week urging Britons to regularly wash their hands for 20 seconds.
Messages will go out on social media and radio stations encouraging handwashing on arrival at work, after using public transport and before food.
Cruise ship MSC Meraviglia is currently waiting off the coast of Cozumel, Meixco (pictured), where it is due to dock Thursday before health inspectors will decide whether passengers can come ashore
It comes after the ship was blocked from Jamaica and the Cayman Islands over coronavirus fears after a member of the crew tested positive for Type A flu (pictured, ship interior)
Mike Tindall posted the above picture of him and Zara to Instagram after the couple enjoyed their holiday
And health chiefs have announced patients with suspected coronavirus will be tested in their own homes in a bid to contain the outbreak.
They will be ordered to stay indoors and wait for a paramedic or nurse rather than risk infecting dozens of people at hospital or on their way there.
In a further sign that the NHS is preparing for a pandemic, more staff are being recruited to the 111 helpline, which is the first port of call for suspected victims.
Officials fear a sudden surge in cases in the UK because the virus is now spreading faster outside China, the country it started in.
Disease specialists today said the new coronavirus cases are ‘not surprising’ and the UK should expect more infected patients without direct China links as the virus continues its spread in Europe.
Experts re-emphasised there is ‘no due cause for alarm’ and said the most important act for individuals is regular, thorough hand-washing and immediately binning tissues which have been coughed and sneezed on.
Professor Rowland Kao, chairman of veterinary epidemiology and data science at the University of Edinburgh, said: ‘We already have evidence of onward transmission occurring outside of China and so these two cases – associated with situations with high levels of infections – are not surprising.
‘This occurrence should therefore already be well within the scope of the current approach to control. It does highlight that we should continue to expect more cases without direct association with China, and therefore, despite evidence of the epidemic tailing off in China, a need for continued vigilance with appropriate control measures for some time.’
Oxford University professor Christl Donnelly said she estimated there could be more than 1,000 cases in Italy – more than double the 470 confirmed so far – as research suggests around one per cent of infections are fatal. There have been 12 deaths in Italy.
The academic, also of the World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Modelling at Imperial College London, added: ‘Each undetected case creates at least the potential for onward spread.
‘This combined with frequent travel to and from affected regions means that all countries are at risk of detecting cases both in travellers and those they came into contact with.’
Dr Tom Wingfield, senior clinical lecturer at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, said: ‘There are likely to be some more cases in the coming weeks but the UK public can be reassured that we have experienced teams in place to manage the isolation and care of people diagnosed with coronavirus and perform robust tracing and screening of their contacts.
‘We are all, public and professionals, part of this response to coronavirus and what we can do to continue looking after each other is keep calm, wash our hands with soap and water as regularly as possible, use and bin tissues for coughs and sneezes, and follow the changing guidance issued from Public Health England.’
An Italian health official in a protective suit holds an infant as migrants disembark from a search-and-rescue ship at the port in Messina, Sicily
Guests were sunbathing in masks and enjoying free supplies of food and alcohol at the hotel poolside yesterday after learning they would be staying well into March. Mrs Pennington has decided to self-isolate herself and her family, fearing this type of behaviour risks spreading the illness
In other global developments, it has been announced that the Australian Grand Prix will go ahead next month despite the continuing global concern over the spread of coronavirus, it has been announced.
The Chinese Grand Prix, which was scheduled for April, has already been cancelled amid growing fears about the virus but F1 chief Chase Carey has announced it is ‘all systems go’ for the rest of the calendar.
Passengers on board a cruise ship that was blocked from docking in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands due to coronAvirus fears are now facing health checks to decide whether they will be allowed off the boat in Mexico.
The MSC Meraviglia, which is carrying 4,500 passengers and 1,600 crew from Miami, is currently waiting off shore at Cozumel having been forced to skip the last two stops on its itinerary after a crew member fell sick.
The ship is due in port Thursday morning where health inspectors will come aboard before making a final ruling on whether or not people will be allowed off the boat.
A spokesman for the cruise line said the inspection is routine, and that the company ‘very much expects’ that people will be allowed off.
The ship previously ran into trouble after a member of the crew, from the Philippines, fell sick with flu-like symptoms prompting fears they had coronavirus – but has since tested positive for type A flu.
While the Japanese prime minister today ordered the closure of all schools in the country for a month in a bid to halt the spread of coronavirus.
Sunbathing in masks: Tourists in bikinis and face masks lounge by the pool of H10 Costa Adeje Palace as they settle in for a two-week lockdown after Spanish authorities confirmed a quarantine yesterday
One guest posted this picture of a padlock on a door of the hotel, with a police vehicle parked outside to enforce the quarantine
British couple David Hoon and Pamela Scott (pictured together) say they fear that ‘we stand more chance of catching the coronavirus’ during the hotel lockdown
Closed: The H10 Costa Adeje Palace is being guarded by police. Guests were confined to their bedrooms at the four-star hotel in a desperate attempt to stop the virus from spreading
Shinzo Abe said: ‘The government considers the health and safety of children above anything else. We request all primary, junior high and high schools… across the nation to close temporarily from March 2 next week until their spring break.’
Almost 200 people in Japan have so far contracted the virus and four people have died.
Last night the US recorded its first case of coronavirus where the origin of the disease is unknown.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the person, a resident in Northern California, had not recently returned from a foreign country, and had not been in contact with another confirmed case.
The news suggests that fears of the disease spreading locally in the US could now be a reality – while President Trump continued to tell the public that the risk to Americans is ‘low’.
Trump announced in a press conference yesterday that the US was ‘very ready’ to tackle the disease as he also handed Vice-President Mike Pence the task of leading the nation’s response to the disease.
Yesterday the World Health Organization revealed more coronavirus cases are now being reported each day outside China than inside the hardest-hit nation.
Just 411 patients were struck down yesterday in China, where 96 per cent of COVID-19 cases have been recorded since the crisis began in December.
But data obtained by the UN-agency show 427 cases were recorded outside China, amid a worrying spike in Italy , South Korea and Iran .
The WHO’s director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom admitted the sudden jump in cases was ‘deeply concerning’ as fears of a pandemic continue to grow.
More than 81,000 cases of the coronavirus have now been recorded worldwide, with the death toll nearing the 2,800 mark.
In Italy, a super-spreader is thought to be to blame for Europe’s coronavirus crisis. It is believed he passed the virus to at least 13 people, including his pregnant wife, two doctors and an elderly woman who died.
Medics failed to test the 38-year-old man, known only as Mattia, for the illness. He went to hospital in Codogno, northern Italy, three times with flu-like symptoms before doctors finally screened and diagnosed him with the killer virus.
He was prescribed anti-flu medication and sent home to infect countless others because medics presumed he couldn’t have the illness because he had not been to China.
The marathon runner first complained of feeling unwell on February 14 and was not diagnosed until February 20, six days later.
In that time he passed it onto at least 13 people, including his wife Valentina, a friend he went jogging with, two doctors, his GP, three elderly pubgoers and a 77-year-old woman who was killed by the disease.
Emergency public health guidelines introduced in late January mean Mattia should have been screened and treated as a potential case because of his symptoms, despite not having been to China.
Italy’s prime minister today blamed the unnamed hospital for the series of missed opportunities for the explosion of 450 new cases and 12 new deaths in the country. It has now spread to 17 European countries.
After first emerging in Lombardy and Veneto, the coronavirus has now spread to nine other regions, including Sicily and Puglia in the far south.
In bid to halt the outbreak, authorities have shut schools, universities, museums, cinemas and theatres across much of the north. Eleven towns have been quarantined.
Infected patients have already spread the coronavirus from Italy to Austria, Croatia, Switzerland, Germany, France, Greece, North Macedonia and Spain, as well as Algeria in northern Africa and Brazil in South America.
Families are already stockpiling nappies, food, medicine and PORTABLE TOILETS as they prepare for weeks in ‘isolation’ because of coronavirus as experts warn panic buying ‘may become rife’ if the crisis gets worse
Britons are panic buying nappies, toilet roll, soup, tinned fruit, pet food, medicine, bottled water, wine and even setting up ‘isolation’ rooms at home in case coronavirus shuts down their communities, it was revealed today.
Families are stockpiling reserves to ensure their homes are ‘fit for a pandemic’ with some purchasing new chest freezers to fill with food and portable camp toilets to avoid sharing a loo if a relative tests positive for the killer virus.
A shortage of germ-killing antibacterial gel has seen a spurt in sales of surgical spirit on eBay and Amazon by people desperate to sanatise their hands, with Boots sold out online today.
On social media one panicked Briton revealed that they have turned one small room in their house into an ‘isolation zone’ equipped with cooking equipment, bedding and food if they have to be in quarantine for a fortnight.
Another Mumsnet user said: ‘I’ve cleaned and prepped the farm caravan so if needed it could be an isolation suite. Useful place to store surplus supplies, tinned food etc as well’.
Others are drawing up spreadsheets of the items they need to buy to last them weeks or months in self-isolation.
Professor Ratula Chakraborty, professor of business management at the University of East Anglia (UEA), said: ‘The prospect of whole towns being in lockdown and shops closed is heightening the fear and stockpiling may become rife’.
Experts believe the stockpiling of medicine and food in family homes ‘may become rife’ as people grow increasingly concerned about coronavirus disrupting British life.
Britons have admitted stockpiling items ranging from loo roll and tinned food to new freezers and toilets because of coronavirus
This Mumsnet user revealed her stockpiling shopping list on a thread called: ‘Prepping for a pandemic’
In a thread on coronavirus this user sent out her ‘dear husband’ to pick a large chest freezer to store more food
Professor Chakraborty, said: ‘One big opportunity for the supermarkets may be home delivery, where online grocery retailers could see a bonanza as consumers shy away from visiting stores and instead prefer to shop from the safety of their own homes.
‘There is no immediate need to stockpile or panic buy any goods, but people should be prepared to help out and shop for vulnerable relatives and friends who are elderly or have underlying conditions which places them at a greater risk of developing severe symptoms if the coronavirus spreads.
In one discussion on Mumsnet, a poster asked if they were being unreasonable ‘to be considering a small stockpile or supplies because of corona?’
They added: ‘Reading about the Italian villages that have been put on lockdown and families can’t leave their homes has got me thinking…Italy isn’t a million miles away. It’s not a third world country. If it’s happened there…’
Almost 200 people responded to the message, with most saying they are also stockpiling tinned goods, toilet rolls and other supplies.
This user set out a plan for ‘a house fit for a pandemic’ once all the stockpiling is up to date
Boots is sold out of surgical spirit online, which people are using as an alternative to antibacterial hand gel, which is being rationed by some shops
This user has confired she is buying powdered egg for baking in case fresh ones become hard to come by
‘Julie’ was looking to order a camp toilet for at home. Some are concerned about sharing toilets at home if someone falls ill
Some have revealed they are building spreedsheets with lists of items they have bought, use by dates and meal plans
One said they were ‘filling the cupboard with soup, tomatoes, tinned fruit, flour, crackers etc in advance.
‘I’ll still eat them all, but they last for months anyway, and when people are surging into supermarkets stripping the shelves I won’t be adding to the masses worried they won’t have enough. I’ll be out of the way and not contributing to shortages.’
On Tuesday, an official at the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention warned of the potential for ‘severe’ disruption to daily life in the event of coronavirus becoming a pandemic.
Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the CDC, said there was a need for ‘new strategies’.
The CDC has been urging businesses, schools and families to prepare for a possible outbreak of Covid-19 in the US, including potentially allowing employees to work from home and internet-based lessons.
In the UK, England’s Chief Medical Officer, Professor Chris Whitty, has said school closures could occur if the virus spreads, while people could be asked to stay at home with their families.