Coronavirus government adviser develops Covid-19 symptoms and baby tests positive for virus
A government adviser on coronavirus said he is suffering from Covid-19 symptoms.
Professor Neil Ferguson, infectious disease expert from Imperial College London, took to Twitter to say he has developed a dry cough and high fever.
“Sigh. Developed a slight dry but persistent cough yesterday and self isolated even though I felt fine. Then developed high fever at 4am today. There is a lot of COVID-19 in Westminster,” he wrote.
The epidemiologist had been providing expert advice to Downing Street on the coronavirus pandemic.
Prof Ferguson and his colleagues at Imperial College found the government’s “mitigation” strategy would have led to around 250,000 deaths in the UK.
Imperial College research warned the approach would have overwhelmed the NHS and demand for intensive care beds.
The modelling abandoned the idea of “herd immunity” - when a large percentage of the population become immune to the virus to prevent it from spreading.
It comes as a baby tested positive for Covid-19 at the James Paget University Hospital in Gorleston in Norfolk, the trust has said.
A hospital spokesman said: "An extensive 'contact tracing' exercise is now under way by Public Health England to trace anyone who might have had close (face-to-face) contact.
"Close contacts will be given health advice about symptoms and what to do if they become unwell in the 14 days after they had contact with the confirmed case.”
The death toll in the UK from the coronavirus outbreak has risen to 71 and 1,950 people have been infected with the disease.
The NHS is cancelling all non-urgent emergency surgery in a bid to free up beds for coronavirus patients.
On Tuesday, the Government’s chief scientific adviser said around 55,000 people in the UK could have the virus and a death toll of 20,000 people would be a "good outcome."
Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveiled a £350 billion package of support to help businesses survive the crisis.
The measures included government-backed loans worth £330 billion – equivalent to 15% of GDP – to help businesses which need access to cash, and a package of tax cuts and grants worth more than £20 billion.
Warning that “never in peacetime” had the UK “faced an economic fight like this one”, he also announced plans for three-month mortgage holidays for homeowners suffering outbreak-related difficulties.
The package comes after the public was told to avoid all non-essential contact and travel, while the elderly and those with underlying conditions were told they would have to stay home much more.