The UK has seen its biggest day-on-day increase in coronavirus cases, bringing the total number to 85.
Some 29 of the 34 new patients had recently travelled to affected countries or picked it up from others who had done so, the UK’s chief medical officer Prof Chris Whitty said.
But it is not clear how three new patients in England were infected. Health Secretary Matt Hancock will chair a Cobra meeting at 17:00 GMT, Downing Street said. Prof Whitty – who earlier said an epidemic in the UK was “likely” – said people who have been in contact with the new patients are being traced.
Of the 85 cases in the UK, there are 80 in England, three in Scotland, one in Wales and one in Northern Ireland.
In “the worst case scenario”, up to 80% of the UK population could be infected with coronavirus, which causes the disease Covid-19, Prof Whitty said. But he said a move to lock down entire towns and cities across the UK would be “very unlikely”.
Hospitals in England are being asked to carry out more consultations by video to reduce the risk of the virus spreading.
A major public health campaign urging people to wash their hands regularly for at least 20 seconds has also been launched.
Boris Johnson has said workers will get statutory sick pay from the first day they are off work, not the fourth, to help contain the virus.
In the Commons, the prime minister said people who self-isolate should not be “penalised for doing the right thing”.
The sick pay announcement means those receiving statutory sick pay would get an extra £40 a week.
Officials believe up to a fifth of the workforce may be off sick during the peak of an epidemic in the UK.
