Coronavirus in Yorkshire: UK cases surge as health chief warns 55,000 people could be infected

A total of 1,950 people in the UK have tested positive for coronavirus, as of 9am today (Tuesday).
By Abbey Maclure
Published 17th Mar 2020, 14:57 BST
Updated 17th Mar 2020, 15:30 BST

It is a jump of 407 confirmed cases from the same time on Monday, but with testing scaled back to only those with severe symptoms, the actual figure is likely to be far higher.

The Government's chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance suggested there could be as many as 55,000 coronavirus cases already in the UK.

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The Government's chief scientific adviser suggested there could 55,000 coronavirus cases already in the UKThe Government's chief scientific adviser suggested there could 55,000 coronavirus cases already in the UK
The Government's chief scientific adviser suggested there could 55,000 coronavirus cases already in the UK
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Health Select Committee chairman Jeremy Hunt asked whether the expected death rate was one fatality for every 1,000 cases, which would mean that there is "potentially 55,000 cases".

Asked if that felt right, Sir Patrick said: "We've tried to get a handle on that in Sage (the scientific advisory group for emergencies) and if you put all the modelling information together, that's a reasonable ballpark way of looking at it."

In Yorkshire, 66 people had tested positive for the virus as of 9am on Monday.

Related topics:YorkshireJeremy HuntGovernmentSage

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