Another 46 people have been infected with coronavirus bringing the total number of UK cases to 319 and four people have now died of the infection, the health secretary has said.

The Department of Health released updated figures following an emergency Cobra meeting called by Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Public Health England will continue to trace close contacts of anybody diagnosed with Covid-19, advising them to self-isolate at home to delay the spread of the virus.

It said a total of 24,960 people have been tested for the virus in the UK. Health secretary Matt Hancock told MPs in the commons that sadly four people who tested positive have died in Britain.



Earlier, Mr Johnson and officials discussed ‘a range of steps’ which could be used to contain and delay the spread of coronavirus in the coming weeks. A Downing Street spokesperson said Britain’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies would meet on Tuesday and there would be another emergency meeting of senior ministers on Wednesday.


Milan, the capital on Lombardy, will be on lockdown as part of tough new measures to fight coronavirus (Picture: AFP)

‘It is now accepted’ the virus will spread in a ‘significant way’ the spokesperson told reporters.

Despite that warning, culture secretary Oliver Dowden has said cancelling sports events or shutting museums and galleries due to coronavirus would be ‘premature’.

Some other European countries are cancelling mass gatherings or limiting the number of people who can attend big events but there are ‘no plans’ in place for the UK to follow suit.

Mr Dowden insisted the Government is following the advice of health officials and, while the situation is kept under review, there is currently ‘no need’ for people to avoid public places.

The UK remains in the ‘containment’ phase of tackling the spread of coronavirus, ministers have said.

Boots has reported a rise in demand for hand sanitiser with many stores limiting customers to two bottles each (Picture: Getty)

Last week, England’s chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty told MPs the UK was mainly moving towards the ‘delay’ phase of its strategy to tackle coronavirus, the point at which such ‘social distancing’ measures may be phased in.

At the weekend, Italy imposed restrictions on around 16 million people for nearly a month in a bid to stop the spread of the disease there.

Italy now has the highest number of confirmed cases outside China at 7,375, and its death toll stands at 366.

France, where more than 1,100 cases have been recorded and 19 people have died, has announced a ban on events of more than 1,000 people.

In other developments... Global stock markets have suffered their biggest falls since the 2008 financial crisis, in a small part due to the coronavirus, as the oil price crashed. Trading was halted on the New York Stock Exchange for 15 minutes after the S&P 500 index fell 7%

Disneyland Paris remains open but confirmed its first case among a worker there. Transport for London also confirmed a staff member working in the company’s head office had tested positive

A pupil at the Rugby Free Secondary School in Warwickshire is self-isolating at home after being diagnosed with Covid-19, while the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) postponed its annual conference

University Hospital Southampton closed its surgical high dependency unit to new admissions after a staff member tested positive

Environment Secretary George Eustice is holding talks with retailers on how to support vulnerable groups who may have to self-isolate, amid widespread stockpiling

Public Health England (PHE) will roll out enhanced monitoring of flights from all parts of Italy from Wednesday

Travel restrictions may be put in place for some people planning to travel to Vietnam after reports that seven Britons on a flight from the UK tested positive. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) would not comment on the figures.

This is a breaking story we will be updating.