As part of an official plan being drawn up by ministers and England's chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, military medics and British Red Cross and St John Ambulance personnel would be drafted in to help.

The Government tonight called off its long-running boycott of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme after conceding that ministers needed to be able to update the public on the spread of Coronavirus.

After months of blocking ministers from appearing on the broadcaster’s flagship radio programme, Downing Street has now relented and will temporarily lift the ban.

Lee Cain, Boris Johnson’s director of communications, is said to have told Government aides that he has accepted that it is in the “public interest” for ministers to appear to keep people informed.

It comes after opposition MPs accused the Prime Minister of imposing a “childish ban” at a time when the public needed to be receiving regular updates on the outbreak.

According to The Times, the decision came after talks with Fran Unsworth, the BBC’s head of news, and Katy Searles, head of BBC Westminster.

Following the lifting of the ban, health minister Edward Argar will appear on the programme tomorrow morning.

However, ministers are still currently limited to discussing Coronavirus, subject to further talks taking place, it is understood.

Panic buying and contingency plans

As the virus continued to cause global concern, the first case was found in sub-Saharan Africa, raising fears that developing countries will be unable to stem its spread.

World markets suffered the worst crash since 2008, with more than $6 trillion wiped off the value of global shares.

In the UK there were reports of panic buying, and Ocado, the online grocery delivery service, warned of "exceptionally high demand".

Since Thursday, seven more cases have been diagnosed in the UK, taking the total to 20, as the outbreak continues to spread, with a soaring number of cases in Italy and Iran.

The MP for the Cities of London and Westminster revealed her constituency's measures included plans "to open up a morgue in Hyde Park, in tents".

Nickie Aiken said the open space, which was used as a refuge from the plague in the 17th century, would provide capacity for most of central London, and said the capital could face a “nightmare” scenario.

The Government is to introduce emergency legislation in the next fortnight to give public bodies temporary powers in the event of a serious outbreak.

Sources said the legislation would give public sector bodies "more flexibility on how [they] operate during an outbreak".

One of the new powers enshrined in law will be for teachers to increase class sizes beyond the current maximum of 30 in primary schools if staff are off sick or self-isolating.

The exam watchdog also warned schools to update their contingency plans in case GCSEs and A-levels risk being disrupted.

Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England, said an outbreak could lead to a downgrade of the UK's economic growth prospects.

And the World Health Organisation raised the global threat assessment to its highest level.

No handshakes and sports matches postponed

There are now 83,878 confirmed cases worldwide, including 2,869 fatalities.

There is particular concern about the situation in Iran, which has seen 34 deaths. Experts believe the number of cases in the country must be far higher than the 388 recorded, with warnings that every death could signal another 1,000 cases.