The UK will likely see “a lot more cases” of coronavirus and should “expect some deaths,” chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty has warned.
Some 87 people have been diagnosed with Covid-19 in the UK, the biggest daily increase so far, as the government launched a renewed public information campaign urging people to wash their hands.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation has warned of a global shortage and price gouging for protective equipment to fight the deadly virus. It asked companies and governments to increase production by 40 per cent.
The virus has spread to some 80 nations, with large numbers of cases in Italy, Iran, South Korea and Japan. There were more than 93,000 cases globally, of which more than 80,000 were in China. More than 3,000 people have died worldwide.
Here are the day's events as they happened:
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Two new cases in UK confirmed
The UK will likely see “a lot more cases” of coronavirus and should “expect some deaths,” chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty has warned, as two new cases have been diagnosed in the UK.
Two more people in Scotland were diagnosed with the virus, Scotland's health secretary Jeane Freeman said.
She told BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme: "We now have three cases in Scotland."
WHO warns of global shortage of protective equipment
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said he wants the world to stop hoarding masks, gloves and other protective equipment.
The head of the UN health agency said he was concerned the coronavirus is disrupting worldwide supplies of protective equipment, including masks, that are vitally needed to protect the health workers fighting the Covid-19 epidemic.
He said "we are concerned that countries' abilities to respond are being compromised by the severe and increasing disruption to the global supply of personal protective equipment, caused by rising demand, hoarding and misuse."
He said "shortages are leaving doctors, nurses and other frontline health workers dangerously ill-equipped to care for Covid-19 patients."
He said there is limited access to supplies such as gloves, medical masks, respirators, goggles, face shields, gowns and aprons, adding "we can't stop Covid-19 without protecting our health workers."
His comments came hours after France's president, Emmanuel Macron, said his government was requisitioning all current and future stocks of protective masks.
WHO accuses medical suppliers of selling face masks at six times average price
'We can’t stop Covid-19 without protecting our health workers,' WHO chief saysCommunity transmission likely happening in UK already, chief medical officer says
Chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty has said community transmission of coronavirus is likely to be happening already.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "It's when it's going from person to person to person and then we pick it up - that's what we mean by community transmission.
"It is likely that will be happening, if not now, but soon. I think it's likely to be happening at the moment, not definite."
NHS could come under 'very high pressure' in large epidemic
Prof Whitty told BBC Breakfast the NHS would cope but could come under "very high pressure" in a large epidemic.
He warned there could be a need to do "extreme things" to protect the elderly and those with pre-existing health conditions, including keeping them away from infected people.
Prof Whitty said closing down cities was "unlikely" in the UK and he believed there was now onward transmission between infected people, although only two UK cases of that nature have been identified so far.
He said: "For the great majority of people this will be a mild or moderate disease, anything from a sniffle to having to go to bed for a few days rather like with with mild flu.
"And there are some people who will get it with no symptoms at all but for a minority of people - and this is particular in people who are older people or people with pre-existing health conditions - the risk is higher.
"The NHS will always cope because the NHS is an emergency service which is very good at adapting to what it finds itself with.
"If this turns into a very large epidemic, then it will put very high pressure on the NHS and that's one of the reasons we have a very clear strategy made up of four parts... to contain this virus, but if it can't be contained to delay it into the summer months or late spring when it is easier for the NHS to cope with it, to do the research needed to have the best treatments available and then to mitigate it - mitigate means to get the NHS and wider society ready for several weeks which could be very difficult."
Chief medical officer says it is 'likely' coronavirus will become epidemic in UK
Prof Whitty said it was "likely" but not definite that the spread of the coronavirus would become an epidemic in the UK.
"At this point in time we think it is likely, not definite, that we will move into onward transmission and an epidemic here in the UK," he said.
Iraq reports first coronavirus death
Iraq has reported its first coronavirus death, an elderly man in the Kurdish province of Sulaimaniya, the local health department has reported.
Iraq has so far has recorded 31 cases of the new coronavirus, one Iranian student who has since been sent home and 30 Iraqis who had all visited Iran recently.
'Irresponsible' coronavirus face mask adverts banned
A series of adverts for face masks have been banned for claiming to protect people from coronavirus, Sarah Young reports.
Face mask adverts banned by ASA for claiming to protect people from coronavirus
Advertising Standards Authority said adverts were 'likely to cause fear without justifiable reason'
Iraq confirms first coronavirus death as number of cases continues to rise
Second country within Middle East to record fatality linked to Covid-19South Korea reports 600 new cases
South Korea reported 600 new coronavirus cases and two more deaths from the virus, taking the total number of infections to 4,812 and total deaths to 28, the Korea Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention said.
Indian cases rise to 28
Sixteen Italian nationals in India have tested positive for coronavirus, New Delhi's health minister has said, as the total number of cases in the country rose sharply to 28.
Coronavirus: Areas affected in the UK
Poland confirms first coronavirus case
Poland has confirmed its first coronavirus infection, Poland's health minister Lukasz Szumowski has announced.
Mr Szumowski said the sick man is in hospital in Zielona Gora, western Poland, and his condition is good.
Coronavirus infects almost all Iranian provinces, president says
The coronavirus has affected almost all of Iran's provinces, president Hassan Rouhani has said.
"This disease is a widespread disease," he said. "It has reached almost all our provinces and in one sense it's a global disease."
The message is clear, the public need to prepare for the potential impact and disruption to their daily lives from a sustained widespread outbreak of the coronavirus in the UK, our health correspondent Shaun Lintern writes, in a look at how the virus will change our daily lives.
Analysis: How the coronavirus outbreak will change our daily lives
Health correspondent Shaun Lintern says the virus is going to shape all our lives in the coming months as health officials battle the epidemicJapanese company developing coronavirus drug
Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd is developing a drug to treat high-risk individuals infected with coronavirus, it said.
The Japanese company said in a statement it is also studying whether its currently marketed and pipeline products may be effective treatments for infected patients.
"As a company dedicated to the health and well-being of people around the world, we will do all that we can to address the novel coronavirus threat," Dr Rajeev Venkayya, president of Takeda's vaccine business, said in a statement.
Germany sees 44 new infections
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased to 240, up from 196 yesterday afternoon, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) said.
Fifteen of Germany's 16 federal states have now reported cases of the coronavirus, with the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia being most affected, according to the RKI.
Coronavirus kills 92 in Iran
The coronavirus has killed 92 people amid 2,922 confirmed cases across Iran, the Islamic Republic's health ministry has announced.
There are now over 3,140 cases of the new virus across the Mideast. Of those outside Iran in the region, most link back to the Islamic Republic. Experts worry Iran may be underreporting the number of cases it has.
The first coronavirus case has been recorded in the EU offices in Brussels, an official has said, Jon Stone reports.
First coronavirus case hits EU institutions in Brussels
Staffer who had been to northern Italy diagnosed with COVID-19 after attending meeting with 30 people from across institutions
Police release images of men wanted over coronavirus racist attack
Police have released images of four men wanted over a racist attack on a student who was allegedly beaten by attackers shouting about coronoavirus, Lizzie Dearden reports.
Police release images of men wanted over racist coronavirus attack on Singaporean man
'I don't want your coronavirus in my country,' attacker told victim during Oxford Street assaultLondon Book Fair cancelled
The London Book Fair due to take place from 10 to 12 March has been cancelled by organisers over the escalation of coronavirus in Europe.
A statement from Reed Exhibitions on Twitter said: "The effects, actual and projected, of coronavirus are becoming evident across all aspects of our lives here in the UK and across the world, with many of our participants facing travel restrictions.
"We have been following UK government guidelines and working with the rolling advice from the public health authorities and other organisations, and so it is with reluctance that we have taken the decision not to go ahead with this year's event.
"We recognise that business has to continue. With this in mind, we will of course support and collaborate with exhibitors and visitors to keep our world moving during this difficult period.
"We thank all those from the UK and a multitude of other countries who have prepared over the last year to deliver what promised to be a wonderful book fair showcasing, as ever, the exciting best of the global book industry.
"The London Book Fair will return, better than ever, in 2021."
