The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK has risen to 51, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said.
The jump comes after the number of confirmed cases in the UK hit 39 yesterday, with a school in Devon confirming that a pupil had been diagnosed with coronavirus after travelling from northern Italy.
The 12 new cases emerged today and include eight patients who had recently travelled from Italy, one from Germany, one from Singapore, one from Japan and one from Iran.
They are from London, Hampshire, Northamptonshire, Bury, Wirral, Greater Manchester, Humberside and Kent.
Mr Hancock said: We’ve responded to a wide range of disease outbreaks in the past, the NHS has been preparing for a pandemic virus for over a decade, we have world class expertise to make sense of the emerging data, we have a strong base on which to build.
He said the UK is currently in the containment phase but added: If the number of global cases continues to rise, especially in Europe, the scientific advice is that we may not be able to contain the virus indefinitely.
Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth called for government assurances that low-paid, casual workers and others who may not be entitled to sick pay, will not be forced to choose between self-isolation and earning a living if they were to fall ill with the virus.
He said the Labour Party would support any emergency legislation ensuring people would not have to put their health before financial interest or vice versa.
Mr Ashworth also asked if those self-isolating due to the disease would need to go to their GP for a sick note, given that people with coronavirus symptoms have been told to stay away from their GP.
Mr Hancock did not answer Mr Ashworth’s question regarding low-paid and casual workers.
Regarding the need for a sick note, he said: Those who do need to self-isolate for medical reasons to protect others, that counts as being off sick – they do not need to go to a GP because there is a seven-day allowance for self declaration and we keep all matters on this under review.
He did not address the fact that the recommended self-isolation period for those suspected of having coronavirus is 14 days.