Boris Johnson spokesman insists coronavirus will not delay Brexit transition

'I’d expect it to carry on as planned – no change,' says PM's spokesman

Boris Johnson's spokesman has insisted the government will refuse to ask the EU for an extension to the Brexit transition period, despite the rapid global spread of the potentially deadly coronavirus outbreak.

It comes as the number of covid-19 cases continue to climb in the UK, with the chief medical officer warning on Thursday that an epidemic is now looking “likely”.

Ministers and officials are also due to hold discussions on whether to move Britain from the containment to the delay phase of tackling coronavirus that would result in efforts being ramped up to prevent its spread.

Pressed on whether an outbreak of the virus could derail the talks over the UK’s future trading agreement with Brussels – forcing the government to request an extension to the talks – the prime minister’s spokesman said “no”.

“That work has been continuing throughout, and I’d expect it to carry on as planned – no change,” they added.

No 10 also confirmed that geographical information of coronavirus cases in the UK would continue to be updated on a daily basis – just 24 hours after the Department for Health said it would switch to a weekly format.

Appearing to confirm a U-turn on the issue, the spokesman added: “I think the prime minister and the chief medical officer have both said this morning we will provide geographic information on cases - it will be at 2pm, it will be with a 24-hour delay to make sure that all of the details are correct.”

Talks over the UK’s future trading relationship with the EU started on Monday, and are expected to alternate between government buildings in London and European Commission offices in Brussels over the coming months. Mr Johnson has repeatedly insisted he will not request an extension to the 11-month transition period that expires in December 2020.

Speaking earlier at the British Chambers of Commerce conference in London, the health secretary Hancock said the response to the outbreak remained in the "contain" phase, despite chief medical officer for England Chris Whitty saying it had "mainly" moved into the second "delay" phase of the government's strategy.

Mr Hancock said: "Contain, the phase we are currently in, means detecting the early cases, tracing their close contacts and preventing the disease from taking hold in the UK for as long as is reasonably possible.

"This approach has bought time for the NHS to ramp up its preparations, but the scientific advice is that we may not be able to contain the virus forever, especially if the number of cases continues to rise in Europe.

"At that point, on the advice of the chief medical officer, we will activate the next phase of the plan, which is to delay."