Coronavirus: First person dies after testing positive for virus in UK

The UK has reported its first death related to the Covid-19 coronavirus, as officials warn the nation is more likely than not to experience an epidemic.

The first person in the UK to die after contracting the virus, an elderly woman in her 70s with an underlying health condition, passed away at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading after being diagnosed on Wednesday evening.

She is understood to be among the 116 UK cases confirmed by the Department of Health, with all seven NHS regions reporting at least one instance on Thursday.

Describing the death as “terribly sad news”, the health secretary Matt Hancock said: “My sincere condolences to their family and loved ones. We will work tirelessly to protect the public from this disease.”

It came as senior government officials warned the nation to prepare for a steep increase in cases of the virus, which has claimed the lives of more than 3,000 people worldwide and infected more than 95,000.

Chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty said it was now “more likely than not” that the UK would see an epidemic while setting out significant changes in the way the government is planning to fight the disease.

Patients who test positive for coronavirus and who have only mild symptoms will no longer be treated in hospitals but are instead being asked to stay at home. Currently, of the 115 positive cases 45 patients have been told to stay at home and self-isolate.

The government has also extended advice to people returning from Italy, including all of Italy in the advice to self-isolate if they have symptoms. Previously only people who had been north of Florence and Pisa were affected by this advice.

“We have moved to a situation where people have very minimal symptoms and we think they’re clinically safe and they are able to self isolate,” Prof Whitty told a press conference at the Department of Health’s London headquarters. “We think this is actually safer for them as well as more pleasant.”

NHS England medical director Steve Powis added: “We know in the vast majority of people, this is a mild, moderate illness, rather like cold or flu, and that can be managed in the home environment.

“And so it is perfectly reasonable and sensible for people with those mild symptoms to self-isolate at home, and not to have to have the inconvenience of coming into a hospital setting.”

Also on Thursday, ministers were presented with potential courses of action at a Cobra emergency committee, as the government prepared to move away from containing the virus and towards delaying its spread to limit the impact on the NHS and allow time for science to better understand Covid-19.

“We are signalling the direction of travel,” Professor Whitty added. “The planning is now going at full tilt for the delay stage.”

It is understood the move to the delay phase of the government’s response will not begin until next week at the earliest unless a significant spike in cases occurs. Officials will now spend the coming days deciding on measures to be taken to slow the spread of the virus.

While the containment phase focused on identifying and isolating those who may have come into contact with virus carriers, a delay-based approach would involve more wide-ranging interventions while still initially falling short of mass school closures as seen in Italy and China.

Globally the virus has continued its spread – with Italy, the worst afflicted region in Europe, announcing an additional 31 deaths and almost 800 cases in a 24-hour period.

In Iran, which has been accused of covering up the scale of the issue within its borders, 107 people have died, prompting a limit on inter-city travel and a push from the government for citizens to reduce their use of paper bank notes.

Meanwhile South Koreans, who have seen the highest infection rates outside of the disease’s epicentre in China, have been inundated with mobile phone alerts announcing where infected people had been and when.

According to the European Centre for Disease Control, 35 people have died in the country while 5,766 have been infected.