THE UK remains “prepared for all eventualities”, Downing Street has insisted, as fears over a global coronavirus pandemic continue to grow.
Experts have raised concern that coronavirus will reach pandemic status following a rapid spread of infection in countries including Italy, South Korea and Iran.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) is worried about the lack of an obvious link between China and newer cases in these countries, and some scientists argue the virus can be passed on easily and by those with no symptoms.
In Italy, around 50,000 people are affected by a lockdown in the regions of Lombardy and Veneto, as the country reports more than 160 cases – the largest number in Europe.
In the UK, 13 people have so far been diagnosed with Covid-19 illness caused by the virus, including four over the weekend who had been on the Diamond Princess cruise ship that was held in quarantine in Japan.
READ MORE: Coronavirus: Four cruise ship passengers test positive in England
Yesterday, Downing Street insisted the UK was “well prepared” and said the risk to individuals in the UK remains low. Asked whether the UK could put in place restrictive measures such as those seen in Italy, the PM’s spokesman said: “We will be led by the advice from public health and medical experts and will take steps which they feel are required to best protect the British public.”
But Paul Hunter, professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia, said a global pandemic is looking more likely.
“It’s not inevitable, but I wouldn’t bet against it. In the UK, the containment policy is still the right course of action but for how long, I don’t know,” he added.
WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris said the organisation will not officially declare a pandemic, but will start to use the term if it reaches that stage. She added: “We could start describing it as a pandemic but at the moment we are saying it is clusters and outbreaks in some countries.”
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