The Prime Minister is set to chair an emergency Cobra committee on Thursday to discuss moving into the next phase of its coronavirus plan.
Boris Johnson and ministers will assess whether Government action should shift out of the containment stage and into the delay phase.
The delay stage would mean social distancing measures could be brought in, such as restricting public gatherings, and more widespread advice to stay at home as well as school closures.
It comes after eight people with Covid-19 were confirmed to have died in the UK, while the total number of positive cases rose to 460 on Wednesday.
The next set of figures will be released later this afternoon following the Cobra meeting at Downing Street.
Mr Johnson will chair the meeting at 1.15pm today (Thursday March 12).
But we won't expect to hear anything on what has been discussed until at least 2pm which is when we have also been receiving daily updates from the Department of Health on the number of cases confirmed in the UK.
