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The UK has reported 319 coronavirus cases and 5 deaths. Here's what we know about how the virus is spreading across Britain.

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  • The UK had reported 319 coronavirus cases and five deaths linked to the virus as of Monday afternoon.
  • Two people died on Monday as Boris Johnson updated the nation on the virus.
  • The UK markets are taking a battering as the COVID-19 virus continues to spread across the nation.
  • The UK's chief scientific adviser said that coronavirus outbreaks may become an annual event and that a vaccine is unlikely to be created this year.
  • Johnson's government expects to virus to "spread in a significant way" in the coming days and weeks.
  • Officials are considering plans to order the public to work at home for at least three months.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The UK has reported a total of 319 coronavirus cases and five deaths linked to the virus.

A patient in his 70s with underlying health conditions passed away on Monday, a spokesperson for the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust said. It was announced later in the day that a fifth person had died after testing positive for the virus.

Three people with underlying health conditions died last week after catching the COVID-19 virus.

Boris Johnson's government expects the virus to "spread in a significant way" in the coming days and weeks, his spokesperson said on Monday afternoon.

The coronavirus causes a respiratory disease known as COVID-19. More than 3,600 people have died and more than 106,000 others have been infected, mostly in China. Cases have been recorded in at least 105 countries.

The UK has seen a rising number of cases of "community spread": people with no known exposure to others with the virus or travel history to countries where outbreaks have been reported.

For the latest global case total, death toll, and travel information, see Business Insider's live updates here.

Kieran Corcoran and Alison Millington contributed reporting to this post.

A fifth person dies after testing positive for coronavirus

Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

A fifth person has died as a result of catching the virus, NHS England announced late on Monday afternoon.



UK citizens with even mild symptoms of coronavirus will soon have to self-isolate for 7 days

Getty

Speaking at a press conference in Downing Street alongside the government's chief scientific and medical advisers, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson told reporters that:

  • Attempts to contain the coronavirus are "extremely unlikely" to be effective.
  • The UK will therefore soo move to delay the peak of the coronavirus because "the more we can delay the peak of the epidemic to the summer the more likely the NHS will be able to cope."

The Chief Medical Office Chris Whitty said that social-distancing methods such as bans on mass gatherings and encouraging people to work at home should not be taken too early as they would be difficult to maintain.

However, he said measures to encourage "self-isolation" of anyone potentially suffering from the virus would likely be taken within the next two weeks.

"Probably within the next 10-14 days [we will] say everybody who has even minor respiratory tract infections or a fever, should be self-isolating for seven days afterwards," he told reporters.



A fourth person has in the UK died after catching coronavirus

ISABEL INFANTES/AFP via Getty Images

A patient in their 70s with underlying health conditions has become the fourth person in the UK to die after being tested positive for coronavirus.

A spokesperson for the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust said: "The Trust can confirm that a patient in their 70s being treated for underlying health conditions has died. The patient had tested positive for Covid-19.

"The family has been informed and our condolences and our thoughts are with them at this difficult time.

"We will not be commenting further and ask that everybody respects the family's privacy."




See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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