On Tuesday Professor Chris Witty, the UK’s chief medical officer has published new advice, anyone who has travelled from northern Italy back to the UK must self-isolate, even if you do feel well.
Travellers who have come back to the UK who have travelled north of Pisa, Rimini and Florence and do show signs of coronavirus must also self-isolate.
The British health secretary, Matt Hancock told Sky News, “I’m pretty worried. We’ve got the plans in place.
“At the moment the containment here is going well, but it’s my job to be worried.
“That’s what you’d expect of a health secretary in the middle of what is a global outbreak.
“There is a good chance that we contain this at this sort of level where the number of cases – although we expect more cases in the UK – the number of cases is relatively low as now.”
More than 220 people have coronavirus in confined area of Lombardy, Italy and seven have died. Border controls are starting in Europe as authorities are scrambling to contain the outbreak, Austria has assembled a task force to consider border controls.
Italy has border controls in place in the Lombardy region, which could widen. Currently there are 12 towns on lockdown holding around 50,000 people with more than 500 police controlling 43 vehicle check points.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast Hancock said, “Yes, the official advice which will be formally updated at eight o’clock this morning is going to change so that those who have been to northern Italy, north of Pisa if they have flu-like symptoms should self-isolate.
“If people have been to the affected areas that the Italian government have quarantined then they should self-isolate whether or not they have symptoms.”
According to the Johns Hopkins hospital, globally there are 80,248 suspected and confirmed cases and 2,704 people have died.
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