The UK’s chief medical officer has said the country is now “mainly in the second stage” of its plan to tackle coronavirus, which means the disease is now being transmitted within the UK and authorities are prioritising the “delay” of its spread.
Chris Whitty told the Commons Health Select Committee on Thursday that the government was gradually shifting its focus from containing individual cases to delaying the peak of the outbreak until the summer, when the impact of the virus on the UK’s National Health Service would be less profound.
On Thursday afternoon the government announced another 30 confirmed coronavirus cases in the UK since Wednesday, taking the total to 115. There have not yet been any deaths.