Three of new patients had not been abroad, raising fears that containment has failed

The number of coronavirus cases in the UK has jumped by 60% to 85 cases, in the biggest daily increase recorded to date.

They include three who contracted the disease without travelling abroad, confirming fears that community transmission is already occurring in the UK and that attempts to contain the virus have at least partly failed.

The chief medical officer for England, Chris Whitty, said it was unclear whether the three new person-to-person cases contracted the virus directly or indirectly from someone who has recently travelled from abroad. People the patients have had contact with are being traced, he added.

The total number of confirmed cases in England is now 80. Following previously reported confirmed cases in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland, the total number of UK cases is 85.

Department of Health and Social Care (@DHSCgovuk) Included in the above figures are 32 further cases in England.



Following previously reported confirmed cases in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland, the total number of UK cases is 85.



All are being investigated and contact tracing has begun. pic.twitter.com/2ZDnvUhudq

Out of 32 new English cases, 29 had travelled to countries where there was a recognised cluster of the virus, Whitty said. Until Wednesday the biggest daily increase in cases had been 13 and there had only previously been two cases of people who had contracted the disease within the UK.

Earlier, Whitty warned that NHS would cope with a major spread of cases but could come under “very high pressure” in a large epidemic.

“We probably do have some onward transmission here in the UK,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. He added: “Now we are on the borderline between containing and delaying … At this point in time we think it is likely, not definite, that we will move into onward transmission and an epidemic here in the UK.”

The Department of Health and Social Care announced that it would stop providing daily updates on the location of latest confirmed cases, because of the large numbers involved.

Department of Health and Social Care (@DHSCgovuk) As of today, due to the number of new cases, we will no longer be tweeting information on the location of each new case.



Instead, this information will be released centrally in a consolidated format online, once a week. We are working on this now and plan to share on Friday.

The Scottish government confirmed two further patients in Scotland had tested positive bringing the total number of cases across the country to three. One patient is resident in the Grampian area, the second patient is resident in the Ayrshire area.

Of the new cases, it is known that two people are from Carlisle and both had recently returned from a trip to northern Italy. One is a member of healthcare staff at the Cumberland Infirmary. A third was admitted to Manchester’s Wythenshawe hospital.

A spokesman for the North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS foundation trust said: “The trust can confirm that a member of hospital staff has tested presumptive positive for Covid-19 following a trip to northern Italy. “​

A letter to NHS trusts has also been published telling them to ramp up their plans for tackling Covid-19, including seeing patients via video link.

In the letter, the NHS strategic incident director, Prof Keith Willett, and incident director Stephen Groves say acute wards may be used and coronavirus patients should be separated out.

It sets out that a level 4 NHS incident has been declared - the highest level - and to date, Covid-19 has been managed as an infectious disease through specialist NHS centres.

But it says: “It is now appropriate to begin to manage some patients within wider infectious disease units and, in due course if the number of cases continues to grow, we will need to use all acute units.”

The document says managers should review critical care and high dependency capacity and consider how it could be increased.

It adds: “Where possible, consider implementing alternative models such as remote consultations for those patients who can be supported at home and review arrangements to support vulnerable individuals in alternative settings, including in the community.”

Whitty said “video conference consultations” should be looked at “very seriously” to relieve pressure on the NHS.