One of the UK's most senior medical officers has discussed how likely it is that people who recover from the new coronavirus Covid-19 could catch it again.
Previously, Japanese authorities said a woman in Osaka had caught the virus for a second time after being discharged from hospital weeks earlier.
And Chinese officials made similar claims in February.
It is believed there are two strains of the virus, which could explain the phenomenon.
But people who recover from coronavirus are “very unlikely” to contract it again, Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England Jenny Harries said.
Speaking to BBC News, she said: “It [the virus] seems pretty stable at the moment, that means it is not changing very much.
“That means that once somebody’s had it, they should be building antibodies to it, so if they were re-exposed to it once they’ve had it in this current cycle, very unlikely that they would get it again. Not possible.
“As we look forward into future years we will have to see how the virus behaves, just like we do with flu.”
Dr Harries said most people who contract coronavirus will see the majority of their symptoms come to and end after seven days.
She told BBC News: “Normally, you’re ill for about a week. People get symptoms, they may get a new cough, a fever, they may get some other symptoms, sort of just feeling generally unwell.
“That will tend to go on for two or three days, build up, then go off again and then by about a week, [at the] end of seven days, for most people most of that will have gone.”
Asked if “pretty much everyone will get it eventually”, Dr Harries said a large number of people could get it.
“The thing about a new virus is, of course, nobody has antibodies ready-made to it. This virus is having a field day, the desire will be to infect as many people as it can.”
She said it was possible that “up to 80% of the population” could contract the virus, but added that it was a “very high estimate”.
