Coronavirus: UK cases jump to 87 in biggest single-day increase so far

Three new patients contracted infection in Britain from unknown source, raising fears of epidemic

Coronavirus cases in the UK have jumped to 87 in the single biggest one-day increase so far.

At least three of the new patients contracted the disease in the UK and the source of their infection is unknown, raising fears that community transmission may now be taking hold.

Thirty-two of the new cases are in England, with two more in Scotland. An additional two presumptive positives in Northern Ireland were announced later in the day – one of whom had travelled from northern Italy while another had been in contact with an afflicted UK citizen in unrelated instances.

England’s chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, said: “Twenty-nine patients were diagnosed who had recently travelled from recognised countries or from recognised clusters which were under investigation.

“Three additional patients contracted the virus in the UK and it is not yet clear whether they contracted it directly or indirectly from an individual who had recently returned from abroad. This is being investigated and contact tracing has begun.”

The increase means there have been 80 confirmed cases of coronavirus in England, three each in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and one in Wales.

It comes as:

• Officials in Italy, the worst afflicted nation in Europe with 107 deaths, announced they would close schools and universities until mid-March
• Schools in the UK prepare online learning resources to prevent any similar mass closure from disrupting students
• Officials consider closing the Houses of Parliament and having debates conducted digitally as part of emergency planning 
• The government announces it will no longer provide daily updates on where in the UK people have been infected due to the number of emerging cases
• India bans exports of a number of key drugs, including paracetamol and some antibiotics, panicking European markets due to the continent’s dependency

Paul Hunter, professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia, said the three new cases transmitted in the UK were “further evidence that the infection is spreading in the community”.

He added: “However, the latest case numbers do not suggest we are past the stage where the containment approach is no longer valuable. Even though the increase looks dramatic, it should not alter our strategy at the moment.”

A total of 16,659 people have been tested for coronavirus in the UK, of which 16,574 were confirmed negative.

The Department for Health said it would no longer be publishing information on the location of each new case and details would be “released centrally in a consolidated format online, once a week​”. The next update will be on Friday.

Prof Witty has warned an epidemic in the UK looks “likely” and “extreme” measures could be required to protect the elderly and those with pre-existing health conditions.

But he told the BBC the lockdown of towns and cities, as seen in China’s Wuhan, was “very unlikely” in the UK.

A 27-page government document outlining the potential scale of disruption warned this week that a fifth of workers in the UK could be off sick at the same time during the peak of the virus. In the worst-case scenario, up to 80 per cent of the population could be infected.

In the event of mass sickness, the document states, police forces would focus on responding only to serious crimes and maintaining public order, the NHS would be forced to discharge patients and cancel operations, and the army could also be called in to support authorities.

Boris Johnson has announced that statutory sick pay will be available to workers staying at home with possible coronavirus from the first day of illness. Emergency legislation will be introduced to bring payments forward from the usual four.

In Italy, the government is set to ban public events and order schools, universities, cinemas and threatres to close for weeks in a bid to stem the spread of the disease, which has claimed 107 lives in the country.