A new case of coronavirus has been confirmed in the North East as the UK moved into the 'delay' stage of tackling the disease.
The patient, who is from the Redcar and Cleveland area, recently returned from an at-risk country abroad and is now self-isolating.
The diagnosis was confirmed on Thursday as the number of cases around the UK reached 590 and the number of cases in the North East and Yorkshire went up to 44.
An emergency Cobra meeting was held by the Government on Thursday and it was announced that the country is moving into the 'delay' phase, after it became clear that it was no longer feasible to 'contain' the spread of the virus.
As part of the new measures announced, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said anyone with mild symptoms of a cough and/or a high temperature would be asked to self-isolate for seven days from Friday.
“If you have coronavirus symptoms however mild, either a new continuous cough or a high temperature, then you should stay at home for at least seven days to protect others and help slow the spread of the disease,” he said.
He added that schools would not be closing yet but international school trips were being advised against.
“We are not, repeat not, closing schools now,” he said.
“The scientific advice is that this could do more harm than good at this time but of course we are keeping this under review and this again may change as the disease spreads.”
Mr Johnson also warned that the Covid-19 advice is likely to be expanded in the coming weeks.
“At some point in the next few weeks we are likely to go further and if someone in a household has those symptoms then we will be asking everyone in that household will stay at home,” he said.
Major public events were not being banned yet but the possibility is being "considered".
As the Redcar and Cleveland case was announced, Carole Wood, interim director of public health at Public Health South Tees, said: “We are working closely with Public Health England after a Redcar and Cleveland resident was confirmed as having tested positive for Covid-19.
“The resident had visited an affected country and on their return followed appropriate advice and immediately self-isolated after calling the NHS 111 helpline.
“We continue to work with key partners and take expert advice to ensure our service to the public is the best it can be.”
Dr Gayle Dolan, consultant in health protection for Public Health England North East, said: “This individual is resident in Redcar and Cleveland local authority area and has known travel to an affected country.
“The person is self-isolating and there are no further public health actions required.”
