55,000 infected with Coronavirus in the UK
The number of predicted deaths was ‘horrible’ but would still represent a ‘good outcome’ given the amount of people expected to become infected with the deadly disease.
It is estimated there will be one fatality for every 1,000 cases, which would mean that there are ‘potentially 55,000 cases’ at present.
However, the stringent social distancing measures introduced on Monday should ‘have a very significant effect on the peak’ and lead to a reduction in cases and deaths after two to three weeks.
At present, the policy is to test only those in hospital already, or those at a care home or prison infected with the virus. So far, 50,442 people have been tested, of which 48,492 were confirmed negative and 1,950 were confirmed as positive – a jump of almost a third from yesterday’s figures.
At the moment, there is a capacity to test 4,000 people per day, but the aim is to raise that to 10,000.
Social distancing could cause case numbers to fall within 2-3 weeks This is a modal window. No compatible source was found for this media.
The government’s strategy has changed dramatically over the last 24 hours, after the UK’s top scientists, the World Health Organisation and even members within Boris Johnson’s own party said the country needed to do more to stop the spread of the disease.
The UK’s new lockdown measures come days after Italy, Spain, France, Denmark and a string of other virus-hit countries across Europe placed restrictions on people’s movement.
Brits have been warned that the health crisis could go one for months. Answering a question of what would happen when suppression measures are lifted, that’s one of the big unknowns in which we are going to have to think about very carefully’.
