The total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK is now 273, a rise of 67, the biggest in a 24-hour period.

The new total is up from a figure of 206 which the Department of Health and Social Care released yesterday.

Earlier today, it was announced two more people have tested positive in Wales and last night it was revealed three more were diagnosed with the virus in Northern Ireland.

The vast majority of cases are in England. London has at least 51 cases, the South East 41 and the South West 35. The region with the smallest number is the North East and Yorkshire with at least 18.

Among those in England that have tested positive is a student from Oxford University, who the institution said self-isolated before they attended any university or college events after feeling ill.


The Department of Health and Social Care says more than 23,500 people have been tested for the virus.

Calls to the NHS 111 service have increased by more than a third compared with the same period last year, with 120,000 extra calls in the first week of March, the department said.

The department's website said: "As of 9am on 8 March 2020, 23,513 people have been tested in the UK, of which 23,240 were confirmed negative and 273 were confirmed as positive. Two patients who tested positive for COVID-19 have died."

Earlier, health secretary Matt Hancock said on Saturday night that the government was doing everything in its power to be ready to delay the threat from coronavirus - which has now killed more than 3,600 people worldwide.

He said: "Public safety is my top priority. Responding to coronavirus is a massive national effort and I'm working with colleagues across government to ensure we have a proportionate emergency bill, with the right measures to deal with the impacts of a widespread COVID-19 outbreak.

Royal College of GPs chair Martin Marshall says it's

"We plan for the worst and work for the best, and the NHS is working 24/7 to fight this virus."

There are concerns the NHS may struggle to cope if the virus spreads quickly, so self-isolation will be used to try to slow it down.

Millions of volunteers could be given four weeks off work to help take the strain off the health service in the event the coronavirus outbreak becomes a pandemic, under plans proposed by Downing Street.

Three million experienced people who offer their time to health or social care services for free would have their paid employment protected for up to a month to ensure patients can be properly cared for.

Ministers are also looking at increased use of video-conferencing facilities within courts to make sure trials can go ahead, and the possibility of allowing retired NHS staff to work in the health service again on a temporary basis.

The chancellor tells Sophy Ridge he will outline measures to support businesses facing

Professor Martin Marshall, chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners, told Sky News using retired doctors was "a good idea" if it was done carefully.

Speaking to the Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme, he said: "Those doctors, because they would likely to be a higher risk group, would not do face-to-face patient contact but there's lots of other things they can do, like managing 111, providing online care for patients.

Scotland's First Minister says the NHS in Scotland will need more resource from the UK govt to deal with coronavirus.

"I am confident they would respond positively. That's what doctors are trained for. Doctors tend to respond very positively in states of emergency."

Amid fears that large numbers of people could be quarantined, if only at home as a result of self isolation, Mr Hancock hailed the "good example" set by a group of people released from hospital quarantine on Sunday, who had been repatriated to the UK last month from the coronavirus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan.

The group of 30 Britons and two Irish nationals were allowed to leave Arrowe Park hospital in the Wirral, having been given the all clear.

Figures of where coronavirus cases have been identified by English local authority have revealed a wide divergence depending on where in the country they are occurring.

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Hertfordshire has the most with 13, with Devon close behind on 12. Kensington and Chelsea has seen the most cases in London with eight.

Many parts of England still have seen no cases.

It comes after a quarter of Italy's population was put on lockdown as the country struggled to cope with an outbreak that is thought to be affecting tens of thousands.

The Foreign Office's advice to Italy has not changed since it advised against all but essential travel to 10 small towns in Lombardy.

Meanwhile, Moscow has announced a prison term of up to five years for those who fail to self-isolate.

Sky's Thomas Moore looks at what the government can do to ease the strain on the NHS posed by coronavirus.

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