A heartbroken son fears his mother could become Britain's next coronavirus victim after she was placed in a coma.

The woman, in her 60s from Sunderland, was 'fit and healthy'. She hadn't left the family home in the last two weeks except to visit the doctor.

'This has shocked us all,' her son said, 'We thought she just had a cold and a bit of a chest infection'. The woman is being treated at South Tyneside District hospital.

A man in his 80s with underlying health conditions receiving treatment at Watford General Hospital became the sixth person to die from COVID-19 in the UK today.

It came after a rise in confirmed cases in Briton from 319 to 382, which is the second largest day-on-day increase since the outbreak began. Wales confirmed nine new cases tonight.

Scientists tracking Briton's outbreak, which has risen eight-fold in the space of a week, have warned the situation is quickly following the same trajectory as Italy's and could peak within a fortnight.

Italy placed its population of 60million on lock down last night and banned movement between cities in a bid to contain the virus.

Thousands of furious Britons have today been left stranded after BA, Ryanair and Jet2 cancelled all flights to and from Italy until April.

The woman, who is in her 60s, is currently in South Tyneside District Hospital and had her diagnosis made public on Monday evening

Britain is braced for an explosion of thousands of cases in the coming weeks as health officials struggle to contain the virus. So far 382 people have caught it and six have died

NHS could test 10,000 people a DAY The NHS is preparing to carry out 10,000 coronavirus tests a day in anticipation of a massive increase in demand. The health service is currently performing 1,500 tests daily but this number will be increased by almost seven-fold. Officials are rolling out a more sensitive method that produces results within 24 hours – the current turnaround is around 48 hours. The tests will also be carried out by NHS hospitals instead of one of 12 labs in the UK. The NHS will also routinely test patients in hospital including those undergoing surgery. The development comes as a top doctor warned yesterday that the NHS does not have enough intensive care beds to cope with a coronavirus epidemic. Dr Ron Daniels, from University Hospitals Birmingham, said an extra 136,000 patients would need intensive care over the coming weeks. The NHS currently has about 4,050 intensive care beds although Health Secretary Matt Hancock has promised to provide an additional 5,000 beds in time for the outbreak. But Dr Daniels said that number would still be a long way off, stressing: 'We cannot escalate our capacity readily enough.' Advertisement

The Sunderland woman's son said: 'Apart from her knees, she's otherwise fit and healthy, so this has shocked us all.

'We thought she just had a cold and a bit of a chest infection, but on Thursday she was gasping for air and struggling to breathe so she went to hospital and by Friday it was much worse.

'We still just didn't even think it was the coronavirus though, as she doesn't even really leave the house.

'In fact the only time she's left the house in the last two weeks was to go to the doctors, so we don't know know how or where she got it.'

He said two members of her family, who have asked not to be named, have been asked to self-isolate. He, as well as others, say they have been given the all-clear by Public Health England.

The woman was the first person to be diagnosed with coronavirus in Sunderland.

Speaking this evening, the son said his mother is 'no worse and no better'.

'She is still in a coma and is receiving antibiotics', he told The Sunderland Echo. 'They have turned her oxygen levels down slightly so that is a good sign'.

'We still haven't got a clue as to where she got it from. She has not been abroad in her life, she never leaves Sunderland.'

It was the sixth confirmed case in Tyne and Wear to date and Gillian Gibson, director of Public Health at Sunderland City Council, said the authority was doing all it could to stop the virus spreading.

Italy is at the centre of Europe's coronavirus outbreak – at least 9,172 people have been diagnosed with the infection and 463 people have died

Experts say the UK – where the number of coronavirus cases started to take off last week – is just two weeks away from being in a situation as bad as Italy's

IS THE UK HEADING FOR AN ITALIAN-STYLE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS? The UK could be heading straight for a coronavirus crisis like the one which has crippled Italy, leading experts have warned. Italy last night put all of its 60million people into lockdown and banned movement between cities in a drastic bid to contain the outbreak, which has infected 9,000 people. But one scientist tracking the outbreak in the UK said Britain is following the same trajectory and could end up in a similar situation as Italy within two weeks. The number of cases in Italy has rocketed from just three on February 21 to at least 9,172. While in the UK it has jumped from nine to 321. Professor Mark Handley, at University College London, compared the rate of coronavirus infection in Italy, which is in crisis, to that in the UK, Germany, France, Spain, the US and Switzerland and found they're growing at the same rate Advertisement

'While we still have a lot to learn about the virus, the advice from the UK Government's chief scientific adviser is that for the vast majority of people who catch COVID-19, it will be a mild illness,' she said.

'The best way anyone can protect themselves and others from the virus is to wash their hands thoroughly and often with soap and water, or use a hand sanitiser, and to cough or sneeze into a tissue, bin it and wash their hands.'

The Sunderland woman's son says his mum was placed in an induced coma after her health rapidly deteriorated.

He added: 'She is no better or worse, it is the machines that are pretty much keeping her alive at the moment.

'I think the staff are trying everything they can, but this is all so new, and so rare.

'It is scary to think 'where has this come from?' and I just hope that she's not going to be the next one to die.'

While England's deputy chief medical officer, Dr Jenny Harries, has warned that thousands more Britons could get the virus, the outbreak is still well away from the levels seen in other countries.

Her stark warning came after a University College London biology professor said the trajectory of the epidemic in the UK is so far roughly comparable to the one in Northern Italy.

Official figures show the number of cases in Italy rocketed from just three on February 21 to at least 9,172 today. In the UK, the toll has jumped from nine to 382 in the same time frame.

Italy is in lock down as it battles to contain it while on Tuesday, the number of coronavirus cases in Spain doubled.

But as Britain prepares for darker days, the woman's son is now pleading for the public to follow the Government's advice to try and curb the outbreaks - so that as few family's as possible have to go through the 'nightmare' his family have over the last week.

'People need to start cleaning their hands and washing themselves as the virus is out there now, and I think within the next week it will get really bad as how do you stop something that is invisible?'

A flight from Naples to Luton today. One passenger wore a protective suit and face mask

The entirety of Italy is now in lockdown and citizens are forbidden from travelling between cities (Pictured, a solder stands guard outside the Duomo Cathedral in Milan)

Images have emerged of coronavirus patients in intensive care in the Cremona Hospital in northern Italy – they are kept laying face down because it may improve the function of a ventilator, which helps failing lungs to work, by reducing the pressure on the lungs

Health chiefs yesterday confirmed two patients – one in London and one in the West Midlands – had died from the killer coronavirus in the UK.

MailOnline understands the fifth victim was a man in his 70s who was 'very unwell'. He passed away at St Helier Hospital in Sutton, south London.

His death came after Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced the fourth death – a woman in her 70s at the Royal Wolverhampton Hospital.

She also had several other underlying conditions and officials confirmed she caught the illness in the UK.

The other three deaths are a man in his 60s in Manchester, a woman in her 70s in Reading and a man in his 80s in Milton Keynes.

Passengers wear face masks as they arrive at Gatwick Airport today as flights to and from Italy were grounded until April

Arrival display boards at Gatwick Airport as most flights from Italy to Gatwick Airport have been cancelled today

Thousands were stranded today as Ryanair, British Airways and Jet2 cancelled hundreds of flights to and from Italy until April at the earliest, while easyJet grounded most of its services.

RYANAIR, BA AND JET2 CANCEL ALL FLIGHTS TO AND FROM ITALY UNTIL APRIL Ryanair, British Airways and Jet2 have today cancelled hundreds of flights to and from Italy until April at the earliest and easyJet has also grounded most of its services leaving thousands of customers stranded in the coronavirus-hit country. BA has axed its 60 flights a day to cities including Milan, Venice and Rome while Jet2 has gone even further and cancelled all its Italian trips for almost six weeks until April 26. Ryanair today announced it had cancelled all flights from March 14 until April 9, but has told thousands of Brits trapped in Italy they can switch their return flight to come home before Saturday. EasyJet has stopped the majority of its flights to northern Italy but planes will still fly from southern cities such as Rome and Naples despite a blanket travel ban imposed by the Italian government as deaths reached almost 100 per day yesterday. Thousands of Britons are now believed to be stuck in Italy because of coronavirus and airline cancellations, including Leah Washington, the young woman who lost her leg in the Alton Towers Smiler rollercoaster disaster of 2015. Jess Nicholls, 43, an enterprise change consultant, said today she felt 'dumped' by BA after it notified her by email that her flight from Rome to London would be cancelled. She was seeking an 'acknowledgement that they just stranded loads of passengers when they said they would get us home'. Ms Nicholls said: 'Their website was down, their call centres are overloaded and we got an email after midnight saying our flight was cancelled. It's putting more passengers in danger.' Most flights to Italy from Heathrow, Stansted and Gatwick have been grounded at the last minute today – but others are still flowing into the country without checks, MailOnline can reveal. Many British travellers returning home from Italy today admitted they had no idea the Government was now demanding they go into quarantine for 14 days as soon as they land in the UK. Advertisement

The budget airline stopped flights from northern Italy but said it would continue flights from southern cities such as Rome and Naples.

Jess Nicholls, 43, an enterprise change consultant, said today she felt 'dumped' by BA after it notified her by email that her flight from Rome to London would be cancelled.

She was seeking an 'acknowledgement that they just stranded loads of passengers when they said they would get us home'.

Ms Nicholls said: 'Their website was down, their call centres are overloaded and we got an email after midnight saying our flight was cancelled. It's putting more passengers in danger.'

British travellers returning home from Italy today admitted they had no idea the government was now demanding they go into quarantine for 14 days.

Fears were sparked today that hundreds of vulnerable patients in Liverpool's Aintree University Hospital may have been infected after a senior surgeon tested positive for the virus.

The father, who operated on scores of people with a wide range of chronic conditions including cancer, caught it on a skiing holiday in northern Italy before going back to work as normal.

Great Ormond Street hospital has cancelled surgery for children with serious heart problems for two weeks after 'health professionals' tested positive.

And University Hospital Southampton said yesterday it would no longer accept new admissions to its surgical high dependency unit after a worker who covered one night shift at the hospital tested positive for the virus.

Suspected coronavirus cases are being turned away by NHS 111 unless they have travelled abroad, prompting concerns that thousands may be going undiagnosed.

Health chiefs have been accused of being 'in denial' about community spread and 'leaving people to die'.

Sam Freedman, a former senior policy adviser at the Department for Education, said: 'Unfortunately I have a cough and a fever. Turns out I can't get a test because I haven't been to any affected countries or come into contact with a known case.

'Even though I have been through an airport and to a concert. This seems a major flaw in the testing system to say the least. I am self-isolating for the time being. If I do have it it doesn't seem to be a serious case. Not yet anyway.'

Sam Butler, from Fleet, Hampshire, who is in his 70s and suffers from heart and kidney problems, said: 'I'm scared and angry. I've got the worst flu I've ever had (despite flu jab), and it's unlike any flu I've had before.

'It fits the description of COVID exactly, but NHS111 says it isn't, because I haven't been abroad.'