Boris Johnson views a map of the spread of Covid-19 in Italy on a visit to Public Health England. The number of confirmed cases in the UK leapt to 35 after 12 new patients were identified in England Photograph: Henry Nicholls/PA
Boris Johnson views a map of the spread of Covid-19 in Italy on a visit to Public Health England. The number of confirmed cases in the UK leapt to 35 after 12 new patients were identified in England Photograph: Henry Nicholls/PA
We are about to close this live blog on the coronavirus. Here’s the latest summary of the key events:
Scotland has confirmed its first case of coronavirus, bringing the UK total up to 36. Thirteen of those have been confirmed today alone. A man in Essex became the second person in the UK to be infected with the virus without traveling abroad.
A group of Britons who have been on lockdown in a hotel in Tenerife since Tuesday have arrived at the airport to fly home. Dozens of Brits remain inside.
The number of cases in Germany has doubled in the last day, and a further 30 cases were announced in France since Saturday, bringing its total up to 130.
In Italy, the head of the country’s civil protection agency has confirmed the death toll now stands at 34, five more than a yesterday, while the number of infections has risen 50% to 1,694.
Non-essential British embassy staff have been withdrawn from Tehran with immediate effect. The death toll in Iran is currently at 54, with 978 confirmed cases. The husband of British-Iranian woman Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who is being held on spying charges in Iran, believes she has contracted coronavirus in prison but says officials are refusing to test her.
Israel has confirmed another three cases, two of which were patients who recently returned from Italy but the other was caught locally. This bring’s the country’s total number to 10.
The first case of coronavirus has been confirmed in the Dominican Republic, a tourist visiting from Italy.
A fifth case has appeared in Mexico – a young woman who was studying in Milan, Italy, but reportedly returned home to Mexico when her school was shut down because of the virus.
Christopher Betts, 73, is a British holidaymaker who is still in lockdown in the hotel in Tenerife. He arrived at the hotel with his wife on the 18th, and was due to be leaving on the morning the hotel went into quarantine.
Christopher told the Guardian he has been tested for coronavirus but hasn’t received his results, and has no idea when he’ll be able to fly home. One of his friends in the hotel is in regular contact with the Foreign Office, and says he’s being told different things depending on which member of staff he speaks to there.
“One branch of Foreign Office says that when you’re negative you can go, another branch says you have to stay for the full isolation period, until March 10,” he said. “We’re operating on a Chinese whispers system. If we have to stop til next Tuesday, fine, we’ll accept it. all we need is clarification.”
“We’re getting conflicting stories from our government. Finish and Dutch people in the hotel have said their government have been clear about them staying until the 10th, but we don’t know,” he added.
A woman wearing a face mask looks out from the H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel in La Caleta, in the Canary Island of Tenerife, Spain, Friday Feb. 28, 2020. Some guests have started to leave the locked down hotel after undergoing screening for the new virus that is infecting hundreds worldwide. Photograph: Joan Mateu/AP
Those who test negative will have to retest when the time comes to fly home, and must leave 24 hours after their negative result. Christopher is concerned that if the remaining Brits are allowed to leave the hotel, they won’t be able to get transport to the airport.
He praised the staff at the H10 Costa Adeje Palace for their hospitality during the quarantine period.
“You couldn’t wish for a better hotel,” he said. “Staff and guests were dancing in the restaurant last night, they brought us entertainment. I know people whinge, but you couldn’t wish for anything more under the circumstances. They’re even giving us free drinks.”
Israel has confirmed three more cases of coronavirus, bringing its total number to 10. Two of the new cases had recently returned from a trip to Italy, and the third is thought to have been infected within Israel.
The three patients have “light” symptoms, Israel’s health ministry said.
PA have produced a helpful overview of the UK coronavirus cases, which might help to map out what’s happened so far:
31 January The first cases are reported in the UK when two members of the same family test positive for the virus. They had recently travelled to the UK from China. They were staying at a hotel in York when they fell ill and were taken to Newcastle Royal Victoria Infirmary for treatment.
6 February A third person in the UK is diagnosed in Brighton and transferred to Guy’s and St Thomas’ in London. It later emerges that the patient, businessman Steve Walsh, contracted the virus at a conference in Singapore. On his way back to the UK, he stopped off for several days at a French ski chalet, where five Britons were subsequently infected with the virus.
9 February Prof Chris Whitty, chief medical officer for England, says a fourth person has been diagnosed in the UK, believed to be a contact of Walsh. It is later confirmed that the virus was passed on in France.
10 February Four more patients in England test positive for coronavirus, bringing the total number of cases in the UK to eight. Those infected are all contacts of Walsh and Public Health England (PHE) confirms two are healthcare workers. The four newly diagnosed people had contracted the virus in France.
13 February A woman in London becomes the ninth person to test positive for the illness in the UK - the first confirmed case in the capital. The patient, also moved to Guy’s and St Thomas’, contracted the virus in China, Whitty says. As with previously confirmed cases, officials work to identify people who had been in recent contact with the woman.
23 February Four Britons rescued from the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan test positive for the illness in the UK, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 13. They were among a group of 30 Britons and two Irish citizens who arrived at a quarantine block at Arrowe Park hospital in Merseyside a day earlier. Whitty said the virus was passed on when all four were on board the vessel.
27 February The first case of Covid-19 is diagnosed in Northern Ireland, while two more people tested positive across the rest of the UK. The patient in Belfast had recently returned from northern Italy and had previously been in Dublin. Another of the new cases, a parent at a Buxton primary school in Derbyshire, contracted the virus in Tenerife. The third patient also contracted the virus in Italy.
28 February The number of confirmed UK cases jumps to 20 after Wales reports its first patient and three more are identified in England. Dr Frank Atherton, the chief medical officer for Wales confirmed a man had been diagnosed with the virus after travelling back to Wales from Italy.
Two of the new cases identified in England had recently travelled back from Iran. Meanwhile, a patient identified in Surrey becomes the first to catch the illness within the UK. Prof Whitty says it is not clear if the patient had contracted the virus “directly or indirectly” from somebody who had recently travelled abroad.
29 February Three more patients are identified in England. Two of the patients had recently travelled back from Italy while the other had returned from Asia.
1 March The UK total climbs to 36 after 13 new patients are identified, with Scotland reporting its first case. Three of the latest cases in England are family members of a man from Surrey who was the first to catch the illness within the UK. All four are adults, including one more from Surrey and two from West Sussex, and are not GPs or health workers, acting regional director for the south of England for PHE says.
Another new patient, from Essex, had no relevant travel to an affected area, according to Whitty, and it was unclear whether the patient had contracted it “directly or indirectly” from somebody who had recently travelled abroad.
The eight remaining cases include one from Bury, Greater Manchester, who was infected in Italy, two new patients from Hertfordshire and one in London. Three cases were confirmed in West Yorkshire, including two Leeds residents – who became infected in Iran – while one is from Bradford who had been in Italy.
Another is from Gloucestershire and is linked to a member of staff at a school in the Cotswolds, identified the day before. Meanwhile, the first person in Scotland to be diagnosed is a Tayside resident who recently travelled from Italy.
Nicola Sturgeon: ‘Scottish coronavirus case not unexpected’
Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon said the first confirmed case in Scotland was “not unexpected”.
In an interview with Sky News a few minutes ago, said they had been preparing for this occasion “for some time” and that she was expecting more cases in the coming days and weeks.
Sturgeon reiterated much of her earlier statement, and said the Scottish coronavirus patient is clinically well.
Confident in the NHS response
The first minister also assured the public that the UK was well-equipped to deal with a rise in cases. “All the things that should be done are being done”, she said. “We have to be prepared for a significant outbreak fo coronavirus.”
She said that Scotland remained in the containment phase, and was focusing on trying to limit and contain spread of infection - which was “particularly important given the lack of coronavirus vaccine”.
The first minister said that wider planning for a significant outbreak in coming weeks was underway, including escalation plans for the NHS. “I have a lot of confidence in the plans and procedures that are in place,” she said.
She said that steps that will be taken will be informed and guided by best possible advice, and that she wouldn’t rule anything out at this stage.
However, she also said that the public “have a big part to play” in stopping the spread of the virus by following public health guidelines.
Sturgeon said that Scotland was working with other UK nations, and described it as “vital” to have a co-ordinated, UK wide response.
“This is a virus that will not respect boundaries,” she said.
Brazil has so far confirmed only two cases of coronavirus - both Brazillian citizens who had been in Italy.
But a report in one of the country’s leading newspapers this Sunday says there are now 252 suspected cases - 136 of them in the state of São Paulo and 19 in Rio de Janeiro.
According to the Estado de São Paulo newspaper, the suspected cases are people who have not just symptoms but have also had contact with a suspected case or a travel history connected to coronavirus.
Mexico have confirmed a fifth case of the virus - an 18-year-old woman who had been studying in Milan and had recently returned to Chiapas state.
The woman tested positive for the virus on Saturday but is asymptomatic, state health authorities said.
Authorities said she had returned to Mexico after her school in Italy closed because of the crisis.
Two of Mexico’s confirmed cases are in the capital, Mexico City, where schools and nurseries are already starting to adopt special measures to guard against a potential outbreak.
Speaking at a press conference on Sunday, Mexico City mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said there were currently no plans to cancel major public events or gatherings because of coronavirus.
A nursing home near Seattle is on lockdown after a 70 year old resident and a worker in her 40s tested positive for coronavirus, officials at the home have said.
State officials said that an additional 27 residents of the nursing home and 25 staff members are reporting symptoms of the virus, which can be similar to that of the common flu.
The Life Care Center of Kirkland is not accepting new patients or allowing visitors, family or vendors into the facility.
“Concerned family members or responsible parties may call our facility,” the release posted on its website said. “The facility is currently placing a hold on admissions as well to fully focus on our current residents and associates.”
The two cases were confirmed on Saturday by Washington state officials. The resident is in a serious condition, whilst the worker is in a ‘satisfactory’ condition.
