The Independent - 04.03.2020

WEDNESDAY 4 MARCH 2020 WWW.INDEPENDENT.CO.UK

Jess Phillips

What the Labour

leadership needs

Matthew Norman

Is more Democratic

drama on the way?

Harriet Hall

Why the abuse bill is a

sticking plaster

Ed Power

How video games

changed everything

The race to take on Trump

Bernie Sanders casts his vote during the Super Tuesday primaries in his home state of Vermont yesterday

Virus could put ‘fifth of

workforce’ on sick leave

PM reveals action plan as NHS declares major national incident

SHAUN LINTERN

HEALTH

CORRESPONDENT

Up to a fifth of British workers

could be forced to take sick

leave at the same time, the

government admitted

yesterday as it revealed its

plan to deal with the spread of

coronavirus. The document,

unveiled by Boris Johnson, said

the response to the outbreak

could include calling on the

army to support the authorities

and instructing police to

respond to only the most

serious crimes. The NHS

has declared the virus a major

national incident, ordering

hospitals to review how they

would cope with an influx of

patients. The number of

confirmed cases of

coronavirus in the UK has

now topped 50, the health

secretary Matt Hancock said.