Dr Hugh Montgomery says coronavirus is around three times more infectious than the flu (Channel 4/PA)

An intensive care doctor has warned that one person who has coronavirus could pass it onto 59,000 others.

There have been 8,077 confirmed cases of Covid-19 so far in the UK with 422 deaths.

The Government has stressed the importance of social distancing to delay the spread of the virus, while the nation has now been urged to stay indoors unless it is absolutely necessary.

And Dr Hugh Montgomery, professor of intensive care medicine at University College London, claims that coronavirus is around three times more contagious than normal flu.


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‘Normal flu, if I get that, I’m going to infect on average, about 1.3, 1.4 people – if there was such a division,’ Dr Montgomery told Channel 4’s Dispatches.

‘And if those 1.3, 1.4 people gave it to the next lot, that’s the second time it gets passed on.

‘By the time that’s happened 10 times, I’ve been responsible for about 14 cases of flu.

‘This coronavirus is very, very infectious, so every person passes it to three.

‘Now that doesn’t sound like much of a difference, but if each of those three passes it to three, and that happens at 10 layers, I have been responsible for infecting 59,000 people.’

Heard of #FlattenTheCurve & #StopTheSpread? Well, this is the graphic everyone needs to understand. We all have to change our behaviour NOW. So, WASH YOUR HANDS AND STAY PHYSICALLY DISTANT. Even better STAY HOME. Please share. #Covid_19 #COVIDã¼19 Thanks @XTOTL & @TheSpinoffTV pic.twitter.com/z455Lpr47O — Dr Siouxsie Wiles (@SiouxsieW) March 21, 2020

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Dr Hugh Montgomery has stressed the importance of social distancing (Channel 4 )

The Government has urged the nation to stay indoors unless it is vital (PA Wire)

Dr Montgomery also had a stark warning for people who continue to ignore the social distancing measures.

‘I’m not going to play it down,’ he said.

‘It’s going to be ugly, it’s going to be horrible for a large number of people – but it will be a small number of people who get properly sick and a smaller percentage of those again that need to come to an intensive care unit and we can save the lives of a large number of those people too.

Commuters have been forced to crowd on tubes due to the reduced service (Getty Images)

‘But please just remember that the best chance we can give for the people who did fall ill is if we have got enough beds and enough staff and enough kit to be able to be there for you.

‘And if you are irresponsible enough to think that you don’t mind if you get the flu, remember it’s not about you, it’s about everybody else.’

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