Coronavirus risk in EU raised from moderate to high as Boris Johnson agrees UK-wide action plan

AFP via Getty Images
Luke O'Reilly2 March 2020

The EU has raised its coronavirus risk level from "moderate" to "high" as Boris Johnson agreed to a UK-wide action plan.

European Commission president Ursula Von Der Leyen told a press conference in Brussels that "the virus continues to spread".

She said: “ECDC (European Centre of Disease Prevention and Control) has announced today that the risk level has risen from moderate to high for people in the European Union, in other words the virus continues to spread.”

It came as Downing Street said a UK-wide action plan to tackle coronavirus had been agreed at a Cobra meeting and it will be published on Tuesday.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock (right), and Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty (left) leaving the Cobra meeting
PA

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the spread of the coronavirus was “likely” to become “more significant” for the UK in the coming days.

He said: “We have also agreed a plan so that if and when it starts to spread, as I’m afraid it looks likely it will, we are in a position to take the steps necessary to… contain the spread of the disease as far as we can, and to protect the most vulnerable.

“We will be announcing that plan not just tomorrow but in the days and weeks ahead as the thing develops.”

He said measures to tackle coronavirus such as closing schools and banning mass gatherings would only be taken upon scientific advice.

Boris Johnson
Getty images

Speaking after the Cobra meeting on Monday, he said: “The most important thing for people to understand is that (measures) will be guided by scientific advice.

"All four nations of the UK and the chief medical officers are involved in this and they will be helping us to take key decisions on when and how to take protective steps.”

He added: “We cannot forget that the single most useful thing that we can all do to support the NHS is to wash our hands, two times to Happy Birthday with hot water.

“It’s very important that people should continue (doing) that and they should go about business as usual.”

Ms von der Leyen said 'the virus continues to spread'
AFP via Getty Images

The First Minister said the Scottish Government is expecting a “significant outbreak of coronavirus” after the first case in Scotland was diagnosed on Sunday .

She said: “We would expect to see further cases confirmed in the days to come.”

She added that the Government is “planning for the likelihood of a significant outbreak of coronavirus”.

The patient who was diagnosed with the Covid-19 virus is “not seriously ill at this stage”, Ms Sturgeon revealed, but is in hospital as a precautionary measure.

“That is not necessarily going to be the case going forward for future cases,” she said, explaining that people will be told to self-isolate “unless there is a clinical need for them to be in hospital”.

Downing Street also confirmed that the Budget will go ahead as planned on March 11, despite the coronavirus outbreak and the impact it has had on the economy in the UK and around the world.

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