The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK has doubled from four to eight, as the government announced new powers to detain people suspected of having the virus.

The four new cases – three men and one woman – were transferred from Brighton, where they were diagnosed, to London over the weekend in order to receive specialist care. Public Health England (PHE) later confirmed that two of the four were healthcare workers.

Of those in the UK now diagnosed with the virus, five were closely linked to a businessman who was told he had the disease last week in Brighton.

The development came as the UK government declared the coronavirus outbreak a serious and imminent threat to public health, a step that gives authorities additional powers to fight its spread.

One of the latest group to be diagnosed is a male doctor who was part of a group skiing in a resort near Chamonix in France with the man at the centre of the Brighton outbreak, the Guardian understands. The other three patients were also infected on the skiing trip.

The businessman is being treated at St Thomas’ hospital in south London, one of the NHS’s network of specialist high-consequence infectious diseases (HCID) treatment centres in England.

A GP practice in Brighton, the County Oak Medical Centre, had been closed after a doctor there tested positive for the virus. It said it had closed its doors “because of an urgent operational health and safety reason”. People wearing protective full-body suits and gloves were seen cleaning the centre.

Staff at the Cornerstone Community Centre in Hove told the area’s Argus newspaper that they had been told to self-isolate as a man with the virus had attended a yoga class there last week.

One of the other four confirmed cases is being treated at the HCID unit at the Royal Free hospital in north London, and the two Chinese nationals who tested positive for coronavirus in York are being treated at the HCID centre in Newcastle.

Prof Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, said that eight people had tested positive for coronavirus in the UK out of 1,114 tested as of 2pm Monday. “Four further patients in England have tested positive for novel coronavirus, bringing the total number of cases in the UK to eight,” he said.

It also emerged on Monday that one of those being tested was a student at the University of Sussex, though no result had yet been returned. A spokeswoman for the institution said: “The student had recently returned from overseas. We are following all Public Health England guidance in terms of practical next steps and we will be keeping our students and staff at the u​niversity informed if there are any developments.

The University of Bath also confirmed that a member of its community was being tested for coronavirus “as a precaution and is self-isolating pending the outcome of the test results as advised by Public Health England”.

PHE medical director Yvonne Doyle said: “As a result of our contact tracing, we now know the new cases announced today are all closely linked to one another. Two of these new cases are healthcare workers and as soon as they were identified, we advised them to self-isolate in order to keep patient contact to a minimum.”

Q&A How can I protect myself and others from the coronavirus outbreak? Show Hide The World Health Organization is recommending that people take simple precautions to reduce exposure to and transmission of the coronavirus, for which there is no specific cure or vaccine. The UN agency advises people to: Frequently wash their hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or warm water and soap

Cover their mouth and nose with a flexed elbow or tissue when sneezing or coughing

Avoid close contact with anyone who has a fever or cough

Seek early medical help if they have a fever, cough and difficulty breathing, and share their travel history with healthcare providers

Advice about face masks varies. Wearing them while out and about may offer some protection against both spreading and catching the virus via coughs and sneezes, but it is not a cast-iron guarantee of protection Many countries are now enforcing or recommending curfews or lockdowns. Check with your local authorities for up-to-date information about the situation in your area. In the UK, NHS advice is that anyone with symptoms should stay at home for at least 7 days. If you live with other people, they should stay at home for at least 14 days, to avoid spreading the infection outside the home.

“The new cases are all known contacts of a previously confirmed UK case, and the virus was passed on in France. Experts at Public Health England continue to work hard tracing patient contacts from the UK cases. They successfully identified these individuals and ensured the appropriate support was provided.

“The patients have been transferred to specialist NHS centres at Guy’s and St Thomas’ and the Royal Free hospitals, and we are now using robust infection control measures to prevent further spread of the virus.”

The health secretary, Matt Hancock, said on Monday that “the incidence or transmission of novel coronavirus constitutes a serious and imminent threat to public health” and designated Arrowe Park hospital in Wirral and Kents Hill Park conference centre in Milton Keynes as official “isolation” facilities. Wuhan and Hubei provinces in China have been labelled an “infected area”.

Under the measures announced on Monday, the Department of Health said people with coronavirus could now be forcibly detained and sent to isolation if public health professionals believed there was a reasonable risk that they may have the virus.

Hancock said the government was taking every possible step to control the outbreak. “NHS staff and others will now be supported with additional legal powers to keep people safe across the country,” he said.

“The transmission of coronavirus would constitute a serious threat, so I am taking action to protect the public and isolate those at risk of spreading the virus. Clinical advice has not changed about the risk to the public, which remains moderate.”

It has been reported that the new powers were introduced in response to one of the Britons who returned from Wuhan in China, the centre of the outbreak, attempting to leave isolation at Arrowe Park hospital on Merseyside.



All those who have been evacuated to the UK have been asked to sign a contract agreeing to remain in quarantine for 14 days, but there were concerns that these contracts were not legally enforceable.

The new designation by the Department of Health follows reports that a British man who caught coronavirus at a business conference in Singapore had been linked to at least seven other confirmed cases in England, France and Spain.

The middle-aged man visited a ski chalet in the Alpine resort area near Mont Blanc before returning to the UK on an easyJet flight to Gatwick airport from Geneva on 28 January. He was diagnosed with the virus in Brighton and was transferred on Thursday to St Thomas’.