Schools in the UK could be closed for more than two months if the coronavirus outbreak intensifies and becomes "out of control", England's chief medical officer has said.

Professor Chris Whitty's warning comes as two people tested positive for COVID-19 in Derbyshire and Northern Ireland recorded its first case - bringing the total confirmed cases in the UK to 16.

He also said onward transmission between people in the UK without recent travel to affected virus hotspots was "just a matter of time".

Professor Whitty said if the virus becomes a global epidemic there could be a potential "social cost", which may include cutting the number of mass gatherings and shutting schools for several weeks.

Image: A parent of a pupil at the school has tested positive for COVID-19

He said: "One of the things that's really clear with this virus, much more so than flu, is that anything we do we're going to have to do for quite a long period of time, probably more than two months.


"The implications of that are non-trivial, so we need to think that through carefully.

"This is something we face as really quite a serious problem for society potentially if this goes out of control."

Professor Whitty added: "If this becomes a global epidemic then the UK will get it, and if it does not become a global epidemic, the UK is perfectly capable of containing and getting rid of individual cases leading to onward transmission."

It comes as some British tourists are being allowed to leave a Tenerife hotel which has been on lockdown after four Italian guests, including a doctor, tested positive for the new coronavirus.

But in a new setback, the airline Jet2 said it will not fly any customers back who have stayed at the hotel during quarantine until they can confirm by testing that they do not have novel coronavirus.

Alternatively they can remain in the hotel for the whole of a two-week quarantine period and then Jet2 will allow them to fly on one of their planes.

One of the new cases in Derbyshire - a parent of a pupil at Burbage Primary in Buxton - contracted the virus in Tenerife. The school has now been shut.

Image: Buxton Medical Practice has closed because of a confirmed case of coronavirus

A GP surgery, Buxton Medical Practice, has also been closed as a result of the other confirmed case. The person contracted the virus in Italy, which has become the worst affected country in Europe with more than 400 cases and 14 deaths.

The Northern Ireland case recently returned from Italy.

Several schools in the UK have closed over fears of COVID-19 contact.

Others have sent pupils home, including Prince George and Princess Charlotte's primary school, Thomas's Battersea.

But Public Health England's general advice is for them not to shut.

Coronavirus: How worried should we be?

The government has said people returning from the coronavirus epicentre - Hubei province in China, as well as Iran, lockdown areas in northern Italy, and special care zones in South Korea - should self-isolate at home and call NHS 111.

People returning from a number of other countries including the rest of China and Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore should self-isolate if they develop symptoms of cough or fever or shortness of breath.

:: Listen to the Daily podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker

It also said that those returning from Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and northern Italy above Pisa should self-isolate if they show symptoms.

So far there have been at least 2,810 deaths worldwide, the vast majority in China, and at least 82,700 confirmed infections, most affecting Chinese citizens.

In other developments around the world: