Daily Mirror - 03.03.2020

mirror.co.uk TUESDAY 03.03.2020 DAILY MIRROR^7

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low-wage workers. Universal Credit

claimants have been urged to

contact their JobCentre if infected

to avoid being sanctioned.

Meanwhile, China’s ambassador

to the UK has praised his country’s

“people’s war” against coronavirus.

Speaking at an event in Central

London, Liu Xiaoming said China

made “huge sacrifices to slow the

transmission” of Covid-19. It has had

80,000 cases since the outbreak began

in Wuhan. The disease has now spread

to 60 countries.

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leadership candidate Lisa Nandy said:

“The threat is concerning enough

without worrying it will leave you

without money for rent and food.”

The PM’s spokesman said “further

action” will be taken “if needed” to help

including extra support for the

NHS and small firms. And MPs

demanded an emergency law last

night to stop coronavirus leaving

zero-hour workers penniless.

Labour warned laws on sick pay

will force many in the gig economy

to choose between self-isolating

and buying food. Statutory Sick

Pay, worth £94.25 per week, is avail-

able to them but only covers those on

more than £118 a week – after they

have been ill for four days.

And those off seven days need a GP’s

note, despite warnings not to visit a

GP if people are self-isolating. Labour

summer, when warmer weather

means it will not spread so easily.

Is there a cure?

It could be months or years before

treatments or vaccines are ready.

How does it spread?

Through droplets from nose or

mouth when infected person coughs

or exhales.

How to stop it?

Wash hands with

soap and hot water

for at least 20

seconds, keep

distance from others.

What are the

symptoms?

Fever, cough,

tightness of the

chest, breathing difficulties. In severe

cases, pneumonia and sepsis.

Who is at risk?

Four in five infected people get mild

symptoms and recover. Older people

or patients with pre-existing

conditions are more at risk.

How many will die?

Leaked government papers said in

worst case scenario, 80% of us

would get virus, 500,000 would die.

Bed numbers within hospitals have

reduced consistently over several

years. The result of this is that

many patients are being cared for

in corridors.”

Dr Katherine Henderson, RCEM

President, said: “We do

not have an adequate

number of beds to

admit the sickest

patients to.”

The NHS said: “NHS

hospitals successfully

opened extra hospital

beds at a record rate

this winter – the

equivalent of opening

two new district

general hospitals –

made possible by

having over 7,

extra nurses working

across the NHS

compared to last year.

“But given the

pressures on the NHS, the

Government’s commitments to

increase the number of nurses by

50,000, and invest in more new beds

and facilities, will be crucial.”

overwhelmed and that can save lives.

Social distancing, which prevents

people mixing, may include

cancelling public events, closing

schools and staggering work hours.

Encouraging more home working

and discouraging unnecessary travel

is part of this strategy. It could delay

the peak of the outbreak until later in

the year, when warmer weather

could possibly deter the virus.

How far has coronavirus spread?

China has had 80,000 cases and

3,000 deaths. It has spread to 60

countries, including Britain.

What should I do if I return from an

infected region?

If it’s from Hubei province in China,

Iran, areas of northern Italy and

South Korea, self-

isolate and call NHS

111. From rest of China,
     Korea, Japan, Hong
     Kong and Singapore,
     self-isolate if you get
     cough, fever or
     shortness of breath.
     Will schools close?
     Public Health
     England’s advice is to
     stay open. New emergency laws will
     suspend maximum class sizes so
     they can stay open if teachers are ill.
     What happens in major outbreak?
     The Government has not ruled out
     shutting down cities. Mass
     gatherings could be banned, public
     transport closed, schools shut, and
     employees told to work from home.
     Do health chiefs have a plan?
     Strategy is to delay “peak” until

QA

&

THE UK is in the “containment”

phase, where isolated cases are

admitted to hospital and there’s

detailed tracing of the people they’ve

come into contact with.

The future is dependent on what

our government decides to do next.

China gives us an example of how

effective draconian measures can be.

The number of cases outside of

Wuhan fell dramatically – and so did

the fatality rate.

This is important as we enter the

next phase. Flattening the spike of an

epidemic means the NHS will be less

‘Social distancing’ coming soon

OUR hospitals are already struggling

to cope with demand, latest figures

reveal, ahead of a possible

coronavirus epidemic that could put

even more strain on them.

The Royal College of Emergency

Medicine says the UK

system for emergency

care is “not fit for

purpose”.

Figures reveal that

100,000 people waited

for more than 12 hours

in Accident and

Emergency

departments across

the UK since October.

A document from

the RCEM says: “The

number of patient

attendances increases

every year, with

roughly a third of

these patients

requiring admission.

“However, the physical size of

hospitals and departments have not

increased, with most now stretched

beyond the capacity they were

designed and resourced to manage.

Hospitals are strained already

VIRUS FEAR Info notice at

Ninewells Hospital, Dundee

Dr Miriam Stoppard

daily virus update

CORONAVIRUS CRISIS: UK emeRgeNCy plAN dRAfted

SCARE A case shut Maidstone Studios in Kent

VOICE OF THE MIRROR: pAgE 10

FRIGHT

SEEING

Woman in

mask by the

London Eye