Coronavirus: What Are UK Authorities Doing To Prevent A Possible Outbreak?
Over the past few days, newspaper headlines have been dominated by one thing – coronavirus.
Originating in the Chinese city of Wuhan – which is home to 11 million people – the virus is believed to have infected hundreds of people in the country.
On Thursday, authorities in China effectively put Wuhan on lockdown in an attempt to stop the virus spreading, with flights suspended, train stations closed and check points put in place.
While the vast majority of cases have been reported in China, incidents of the virus have also been detected in at least eight other countries.
But what about the UK – what are authorities doing to prevent an outbreak of coronavirus? And what happens if cases are discovered here?
What is coronavirus?
First things first: What is coronavirus? Coronaviruses are actually a large family of viruses – the strain that has caused this outbreak is known clinically as 2019-nCoV.
According to World Health Organisation, these viruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people. However, experts believe there could also have been human-to-human transmission in the case of 2019-nCoV.
Symptoms of the new coronavirus include a fever, coughing, tightness in the chest, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties.
Current data suggests that 26 people have died during an outbreak of this virus in China – where it began – while more than 800 people have been infected.
The virus has also been detected in Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the US.
Has coronavirus reached the UK?
So far, the 14 people in the UK tested for the virus have all received the all-clear. However there are checks ongoing on other people, according to the Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty.
However, while health secretary Matt Hancock insisted on Friday that the risk to the public remains low, Professor Paul Cosford – emeritus medical director at Public Health England (PHE) – said it was...
