Boris Johnson, who is currently unveiling the UK’s coronavirus strategy, has said it is “highly likely” the number of coronavirus cases in the UK will rise.
The Prime Minister said the Government’s plan is to “contain, delay, research, mitigate”:
“Let me be absolutely clear that for the overwhelming majority of people who contract the virus this will be a mild disease from which they will speedily and fully recover as we have already seen.
“But I fully understand public concern, your concern, about the global spread of the virus and it is highly likely that we will see a growing number of UK cases and that’s why keeping the country safe is the Government’s overriding priority.
“Our plan means we are committed to doing everything possible, based on the advice of our world-leading scientific experts, to prepare for all eventualities.”
CMO: one per cent of people who get the virus could die
The Chief Medical Officer, Prof Chris Whitty, added that we do not know the proportion of people in the UK who have the virus but are presenting no symptoms.
This has been a major concern for experts since it first emerged that asymptomatic people could still transmit the coronavirus to others.
Prof Whitty said that “probably around 1 per cent of people who get this virus might end up dying”, but that the death rate varies according to age group. “[Risk] goes up a bit among people who are older and a bit more vulnerable.”
Harry Yorke from Telegraph politics is covering more updates from the Downing Street press conference.