Thirty more patients test positive for coronavirus in UK bringing total number up to 115

Thirty more patients have tested positive for coronavirus in the UK, bringing the total number of cases up to 115.

The Department of Health and Social Care said that seventeen of the new patients had recently travelled from recognised countries or from recognised clusters which are under investigation.

Eight patients were identified in the UK where it is not yet clear whether they contracted it directly or indirectly from an individual who had recently returned from abroad.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Officials have confirmed three cases of coronavirus in West Yorkshire - two patients from Leeds who became infected while travelling to Iran and a third case, a woman from Ilkley, who picked up the virus in Italy.

England's Chief Medical Officer acknowledged that people needing oxygen would stretch the health service (Photo: Michael Cooper/PA Wire)England's Chief Medical Officer acknowledged that people needing oxygen would stretch the health service (Photo: Michael Cooper/PA Wire)
England's Chief Medical Officer acknowledged that people needing oxygen would stretch the health service (Photo: Michael Cooper/PA Wire)

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust says it is 'extremely well prepared' for further outbreaks of the virus and isolation pods have now been introduced at the emergency departments in Leeds General Infirmary and St James's Hospital to treat coronavirus patients.

But Professor Chris Whitty, England's Chief Medical Officer, acknowledged that people needing oxygen would stretch the health service, and said some "things may be considerably less well done" during the peak of an epidemic.

He pointed to potential stress on the service at the worst point, adding: "Depending on how high the peak, this could be anywhere from a rather bad winter for the NHS - but in spring or summer - through to huge numbers way overtopping the ability of the NHS realistically to put everyone in beds and that obviously would have big pressures on the service."

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Half of all coronavirus cases in the UK are most likely to occur in just a three-week period, with 95 per cent of them over a nine-week period, he said.

Prof Whitty said the UK has now mainly moved to the delay stage of tackling the virusProf Whitty said the UK has now mainly moved to the delay stage of tackling the virus
Prof Whitty said the UK has now mainly moved to the delay stage of tackling the virus
Read More
'It is not a time to panic' says Leeds professor amid concern over coronavirus c...

In worst-case scenario, "the ratio of doctors to patients and nurses to patients would inevitably go down very sharply for a short period of time, that's a mathematical reality," but he said steps could possibly be taken to mitigate that.

Prof Whitty was giving evidence to the Health and Social Care Committee, with MPs including former health secretary Jeremy Hunt, as the UK announced its 90th coronavirus case.

He said the NHS is "incredibly good at flexing" to meet the demands put on it but acknowledged that, at a peak, "things may be considerably less well done than we would hope for a short but definable period of time".

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He added: "The bit of the system which will come under pressure first will be those conditions that require people to have oxygen and particularly to have critical care beds, and that bit, I think, will come under pressure at quite an early stage if we have a high-end-of-the-range epidemic for this."

"Wider general services will be much less affected. And children's services - because children seem to be relatively spared from this disease - I think will be relatively much less affected."

Prof Whitty said he had a "reasonably high degree of confidence" that 1% is at the "upper limit" of the mortality rate for coronavirus, although Wuhan in China, which has a weaker health system, had seen an 8% to 9% mortality rate for those aged 80 and over.

Asked if there is enough space in mortuaries to cope with a big increase in deaths, Prof Whitty admitted: "It depends how much worse it gets.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"But there are plans for this. This is standard planning for many emergencies."

Prof Whitty said the UK has now mainly moved to the delay stage of tackling the virus as evidence of community transmission emerges.

The delay phase means measures can be ramped up to delay its spread, with possibilities including school closures, encouraging greater home working, and reducing the number of large-scale gatherings.

However, Prof Whitty said closing schools would possibly only have a "marginal effect", adding that children do not appear to be as badly affected by Covid-19 as other groups.

And he told MPs the UK is now "heavily planning" for the mitigation phase.

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.