First death of coronavirus hits Scotland as UK cases stands at 798

A patient infected with coronavirus has died in Scotland, the country’s first fatality bringing the total confirmed deaths in the UK to 11.

The Department of Health announced, as of 9am 13 March 2020, a total of 32,771 people have been tested: 31,973 negative.

In the UK the number of confirmed cases in one day has soared by 208 to a total of 798 positive cases.

The former health secretary Jeremy Hunt has questioned Boris Johnson’s strategy in tackling the coronavirus and said it is “concerning.”

Hunt who is the chair of the House of Commons Health select committee questioned the decision not to cancel mass gatherings after Johnson said on Thursday that many more families would “lose loved ones before their time.”

The UK government’s chief scientific officer, Sir Patrick Vallance said at a press conference in Downing Street on Thursday, “it is most likely five to ten thousand people are already infected in the UK with coronavirus.”

Sir Patrick said that we are following a similar trajectory to that of Italy, in terms of numbers and the peak could be 10 to 14 weeks away.