Many more families “are going to lose loved ones before their time,” Boris Johnson has warned, as he said the coronavirus pandemic was the ”worst public health crisis in a generation”. The prime minister said that from Friday, those with any Covid-19 symptoms, however mild, should stay at home for at seven days. Symptoms include a new, persistent cough, and fever.
Sir Patrick Vallance, the government’s chief scientific adviser, said the actual number of people infected in the UK at the moment could be between 5,000 and 10,000 while Professor Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, said the risk rating from coronavirus had been raised to high.
More than 126,000 people have so far been infected across the world, and 4,700 have died after contracting the disease – including 10 people in the UK. In the US, Donald Trump has banned all incoming travellers from Europe as he seeks to overturn perceptions that his own administration has failed to take the pandemic seriously.
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Actor Tom Hanks and his wife have tested positive for the virus while in Australia.
China has declared the peak of the epidemic in the country has passed.
The announcement came after Hubei province - the epicentre of the outbreak - recorded a single-figure daily tally for the first time after eight new infections.
Travel restrictions have been loosened in the province and some people have been able to go back to work in two of its cities and two counties.
While the virus is spreading quickly globally, its progress in China has slowed markedly in the past seven days – a result of weeks of strict measures imposed to control the movement of people and traffic, including the virtual lockdown of Wuhan, a city of 11 million people.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has said he doesn't see the need for Britain to introduce a US-style flying ban to tackle the spread of coronavirus.
He told the BBC "the evidence here does not support that".
Donald Trump has suspended all flights from Europe to the US for 30 days starting from tomorrow – although he excluded the UK and Ireland.
The US president made the announcement in an Oval Office address to the nation, blaming the European Union for not acting quickly enough to address the outbreak of the virus and saying US clusters were "seeded" by European travellers.
The 26 countries affected by the ban include:
Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
American citizens will still be allowed to return home during the ban.
Donald Trump avoided declaring a national emergency over the coronavirus outbreak but is shutting down all travel from Europe – with the exception of the UK and Ireland – and going back on his own advice by urging sick people to “stay home”.
Describing the disease as a "foreign virus", Mr Trump announced a halt on all travel from the 26 countries in the Schengen open borders area of the EU, starting from 20 March.
Italy has ordered bars, restaurants and hair and beauty salons to close in the toughest restrictions on a Western nation since the Second World War.
In a televised address to the nation, prime minister Giuseppe Conte said all shops would be shuttered except supermarkets, food stores and chemists, and companies must close all non-essential departments.
Company canteens can remain open if they are able to guarantee a distance of at least one metre (three feet) between customers.
The latest measures will take effect from today and last until 25 March.
The move came after the country's death coronavirus death toll jumped by 196 in 24 hours to 827.
Confirmed cases across Italy rose to 12,462 from a previous 10,149.
In one of most extreme measures taken by any government in response to virus outbreak, India has suspended all visas for a month from Friday, with only some exemptions for diplomats and workers.
The measure, one of the most far-reaching responses by any government to the Covid-19 outbreak yet, effectively bans all tourism to India until at least 15 April.
The announcement came as India’s number of coronavirus cases rose to 72 on Thursday.
Adam Withnall reports from Delhi:
Twitter has forced all of its staff worldwide to go home as the coronavirus spreads.
The company said it will not allow its staff to come into the office in an attempt to protect "health and safety of our Tweeps".
It said it will continue to pay contractors and hourly workers who are unable to do their job from home.
Andrew Griffin explains:
Experts criticise UK government for ‘complacent’ coronavirus response
John Ashton, the former regional director of Public Health England, has delivered a stinging rebuke to the UK government for its “complacent” response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Prof Ashton told the BBC's Newsnight the government should have put measures in place last month, raising concerns about hospitals becoming overstretched.
He said: “I’m tearing my hair out really, with this.”
“I want to know why we are not testing, why we haven’t tested those people coming back from Italy and who are now amongst us. We’ve got a recipe for community spread here,” Prof Ashton added.
His strongly-worded criticism came on Wednesday, the same day that the WHO declared the disease a pandemic.
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Actor Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson have tested positive for Covid-19.
The Forrest Gump and Toy Story actor posted a message on his Instagram profile - alongside a picture of a surgical glove in a bin - saying that the couple had felt ill in Australia before being tested.
WHO chief criticises response to epidemic
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO’s director-general, has issued a warning to unnamed countries that he believes are not doing enough to tackle the coronavirus outbreak.
He said: “Some countries are struggling with a lack of capacity.
“Some countries are struggling with a lack of resources.
“Some countries are struggling with a lack of resolve.”
His comments came as countries including the UK and the US faced criticism from epidemiologists for their governments’ handling of the crisis.
Denmark has closed all of its schools and universities after a 10-fold rise in cases since Monday.
All public sector workers with non-critical jobs are also to be sent home starting from Friday, prime minister Mette Frederiksen has announced.
Norway is shutting its borders to the places worst-hit by coronavirus, and it has decided to stop Nato military exercise in its Arctic region.
Sweden, meanwhile. has banned public gatherings of more than 500 people after reporting its first death.
UK government is likely to announce increased coronavirus response amid criticism
The UK government is expected to announce on Thursday that it is ramping up its response to the coronavirus.
It comes after experts have roundly condemned the government’s handling of the epidemic.
Richard Horton, the editor of the Lancet, a peer-reviewed medical journal, is among those who have questioned its approach.
In a tweet on Tuesday, he said: “The UK government—Matt Hancock and Boris Johnson—claim they are following the science. But that is not true.
“The evidence is clear. We need urgent implementation of social distancing and closure policies. The government is playing roulette with the public. This is a major error.”
The UK is shielding its economy from the virus “but not yet its people”, according to The New York Times.
Commenting shortly after Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a £30bn package on Wednesday to help ease the financial strain caused by the disease, the paper questioned the UK’s “cautious medical response”.
After Nadine Dorries became the first MP to test positive for the coronavirus earlier this week, some have criticised the fact that parliament still remains open.
A paramedic in Hertfordshire who works for the East of England Ambulance Service has been diagnosed with Covid-19.
An NHS spokesperson said: “The chief medical officer today confirmed a further case of Covid-19 who is a resident of Hertfordshire and a paramedic with the East of England Ambulance Service.
“There are well established procedures that are being followed in a case such as this and the NHS and Public Health England are taking all necessary steps to manage the situation.”
Emily Thornberry MP has announced she is in "good health" after receiving "concern and well wishes".
The UK’s top medical officers have written a letter to doctors saying health services will be put “under extreme pressure” as a result of the spread of COVID-19.
Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, posted a copy of the letter on Twitter on Thursday morning.
Prof Whitty, who has not made a public appearance this week, said along with his other colleagues that the epidemic would present “a challenge” to their profession.
The letter added that a “significant epidemic” may require healthcare workers to work in “unfamiliar circumstances or surroundings”.
WHO chief warns about countries’ inadequate coronavirus responses
The head of the WHO has issued a second statement saying that certain countries are not responding to the coronavirus threat “with the level of political commitment needed”.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO’s director-general, said: “We are deeply concerned that some countries are not approaching this threat with the level of political commitment needed to control it."
“This is a controllable pandemic. Countries that decide to give up on fundamental public health measures may end up with a larger problem, and a heavier burden on the health system that requires more severe measures to control,” he added.
His comments came the day after the WHO declared the virus a pandemic.
The EU commission has said it disapproves of Donald Trump's ban on travel from Europe to the US.
The commission's president claimed the decision was made without consultation.
China to stop people climbing Mount Everest
Chinese officials will stop people climbing Mount Everest this spring from its side of the mountain, according to expedition operators.
The climbing season began last week and Everest was still open for climbers in Nepal.
However, officials and mountaineering operators in Nepal said they feared a dramatic decline in the number of climbers this year.
Poland has reported its first coronavirus-related death.
It comes after the country's workers were told to work from home "in accordance with the law".
