Johnson has moved the UK to a higher
stage of defense against the virus
he said that if you have a new and
continuous cough or have a high
temperature you should self isolate for
seven days the aim is to delay an
explosion in the number of infections so
that hospitals are not overwhelmed
here's our Health and Social Care
correspondent Victoria McDonald a
crowded Trafalgar Square in the very
heart of London and our own image of how
it might look if this were a city to go
into lockdown just a few weeks ago that
seemed unimaginable today the government
confirmed we are now moving to a new
phase and fight against covered 19 I've
got to be clear we're going to be clear
this is the worst public health crisis
for a generation some people compare it
to seasonal flu alas that is not right
owing to the lack of immunity this
disease is more dangerous and it's going
to spread further and I I must level
with you level with the British public
more families and many more families are
going to lose loved ones before their
time this isn't locked down yet but the
contained phase which relied on
hand-washing testing and contact tracing
hasn't worked today saw the largest day
on day increase in numbers since the
outbreak began so it is delay to push
the peak of cases away from the winter
months and into the warmer weather
there are currently 590 cases that have
been identified in the UK and there are
more than 20 patients on intensive care
units if you calculate what that really
means in terms of the total number it's
much more likely that we've got
somewhere between five and ten thousand
people infected at the moment Newsday at
home guidance has now been issued if you
have symptoms of corona virus infection
covered 19 however mild stay at home and
do not leave your house for seven days
from when the symptoms started and those
symptoms are a new continuous cough
and/or a high temperature
some point in the next few weeks we are
likely to go further and if someone in a
household has those symptoms we will be
asking everyone in that household to
stay at home no doubt with these images
in their minds the government has also
warned people over 70 not to go on
cruises and for schools not to take
trips abroad are they going far enough
certainly not as far as Ireland where
they've closed schools today along with
colleges and childcare facilities and
have advised against mass gatherings
while in Scotland the First Minister
Nicola Sturgeon said that large-scale
public events of more than 500 people
will be cancelled from Monday I think it
is incumbent on government to do what we
can to remove unnecessary burdens on our
public services and that's at the the
rationale for the decision that I are
noticing today these pictures from China
and more recently from Italy have been
distressing showing frontline health
staff working to breaking-point beds
running out crowded wards this is
precisely what the government here does
not want to happen but the organisation
every doctor which campaigns for better
working conditions has now written to
medical unions asking for their help in
ensuring NHS staff are protected rightly
the focus has been on on the public but
the public won't be cared for without us
and our nursing and physiotherapy and
paramedic colleagues doing the job that
we do every day and say I guess it's
like when you're on a plane and they
tell you that you should put your mask
on before putting that on the mask on
your child I think there's a it's not
now do you know that's perhaps helpful
in that we need to do whatever we can to
make sure that the workforce that will
keep everybody safe and well are able to
keep on working while much is still
unknown about covered 19 it is now clear
that young children are as likely to be
infected as adults but it is not known
how much they spread the virus and that
makes the question of closing schools
more difficult
stop the outbreak in its tracks probably
you should be closing schools because
even if they're responsible for a little
bit of transmission there's certainly
you know potential drivers whereas if
you just want to slow down the outbreak
and flatten it I think the question
becomes more complicated the UK
government has no plans yet to close
down schools and the fact is that older
people seem to be more at risk from
covered 19 and while the vast majority
will experience mild to moderate
symptoms the Prime Minister today called
on society to help each other to do all
we can and above all wash your hands
Victoria MacDonald reporting now our
political correspondent this bates was
at that news conference and joins us
from Downing Street Liz yes the tone
here at Downing Street today as you can
imagine very somber very serious it's
clear that the government has stepped up
its response to the coronavirus into a
different gear today there were still
questions though for Boris Johnson about
the UK's response when you compare it to
the rest of the world but he was
insisting that they are simply acting on
the best scientific and medical advice
that they have access to when it comes
to wider political repercussions as
though here in Westminster brexit trade
talks do to be held next week
they've been cancelled it's also
affected the Labour leadership contest
they have cancelled hustings
and also the suggestion that local
elections in mate could be cancelled as
well so far-reaching repercussions here
in Westminster thanks very much Liz now
as we've heard Scotland's First Minister
Nicola Sturgeon has gone further than
Boris Johnson in saying that public
gatherings of more than 500 people
should be banned from next week a
Scotland correspondent Karen Jenkins is
in Edinburgh for us now Kieran Cathy it
is notable that Scotland has gone
further than the rest of the UK in
canceling events of more than 500 people
from Monday that means the Old Firm
football match this weekend will still
go ahead at present but very soon in
Scotland potentially we could have life
without some conferences life without
concerts or crowds in sporting events no
Nicola Sturgeon was
asked if there was any tension with
Boris Johnson his government over this
decision she said well he'd have to ask
him but they don't seem to disagree on
the science if you're symptomatic Nicola
Sturgeon said well you shouldn't really
be going to these events anyway the new
advice is that you should stay at home
for seven days and her rationale is that
in cancelling these events they're
freeing up vital public and emergency
services that get tied up on these sorts
of occasions so they say this is
primarily about the resilience of
emergency services in Scotland they are
anticipating large numbers of people
becoming infected requiring hospital
care and intensive care and there are in
Scotland at present just a few hundred
intensive care beds so right now in
Scotland we are working on plans to
double intensive care capacity we have
between two and three hundred intensive
care beds right now we've got more beds
in addition to that for a high
dependency capacity but we are working
on a plan to double intensive care I
want to see very clearly that even with
all of the things we are going to do to
try to manage the peak of this the
pressure on our health service is going
to be considerable and that's why this
way defining is so important that's
really worth repeating even if intensive
care beds are doubled which is a mammoth
task in itself they will still be
considerable pressure on the NHS so
change afoot in hospitals in society
because these large-scale events will be
canceled now in Scotland from Monday
with no end date life is about to get
very different for who knows how long
Ciaran thanks very much well the Irish
Prime Minister Lee over our car has
announced that schools colleges and
childcare facilities in Ireland will
close from six o'clock tonight and will
not reopen until March the 29th to help
contain the spread of covered 19 jane
dodgers in the town of Dundalk which is
near to the border with Northern Ireland
Jane what's latest from there these
school corridors will be silent now for
the next two weeks that announcement
that schools colleges and childcare
facility
well clothes came as a surprise though
to the head teacher here initially I
think the children you know there's that
usual beg chair but then the children
you know we were with 84 children making
confirmation they were very very
disappointed you know not to be going
ahead with the confirmation on side of
the week some children cried and I think
teachers were all very anxious wondering
has something very serious happened that
were closing at such short notice
it was very short loss as far as really
we had to then spend you know the couple
of hours we left in the day of preparing
for doing a work for the children and
getting ready to put up on our website
and it's not just classrooms that are
empty tonight some supermarket shelves
are too panic buying setting across the
republic after today's announcement and
done doc was no exception
it's been hectic we've run out of tyrol
and tissues disinfectants the holdup but
we will have some more in he's God is
Saturday mornin and it's just made
mental our day in every shop and the
Turner's has been tighter old Taylor on
Taylor do you think people are justified
in this panic buying I would be afraid
so I would say yes stirred there you
know it is it is very frightened what's
going on one person in the Republic has
died from coronavirus 27 new cases were
confirmed today bringing the total to 70
this disease may not have recognized any
any borders but precautions to fight it
do this classroom and many others across
the republic of ireland will be closed
tomorrow but just up the road across the
border in Newry
children will be going to school as
normal Jane thanks very much John I've
been speaking with the former Health
Secretary Jeremy Hunt he's now the
chairman of the Commons Health Select
Committee Navigon by asking him in light
of the prime minister's comments about
families facing the loss of loved ones
what sort of numbers could
be facing well I think it is a deeply
concerning moment and if you look at the
modeling that the chief medical officer
believes we would be lucky to have less
than 5% of the population getting the
virus that would suggest a mortality
rate four or five times the annual
average for winter flu and if you look
at what happens in other countries this
can often be in the most terrible
circumstances so this is very sobering
but I think the encouraging news from
today is that we believe that we are
four weeks behind Italy and that is I
think thanks to heroic efforts to
contact race people who have had the
virus or may have the virus and I think
we've probably done more than any other
European country to do that the sobering
news is that maybe up to 10,000 people
have got the virus as we speak in this
country and that suggests that we are in
a very serious emergency now although
there are small countries Denmark and
Ireland have both effectively moved to
stop all mass gatherings schooling
everything has pit has been closed
shouldn't that be the measure here well
many people will be surprised and
concerned that we're not moving sooner
and the reason is because are you
surprised yes I am and the reason is
because one thing we do have now is
evidence of countries that appear to
have been strikingly successful in
turning back the tide of the virus
Thailand for example the first country
outside China to get the virus only 59
reported cases Taiwan right next door
only 49 cases that the places that have
succeeded are the ones that moved
earliest to social distancing that the
business of trying to keep the most
vulnerable people away from places where
they could catch the virus and so I
think people will be concerned that
we're not moving sooner to more social
distancing for example banning external
visits to care homes things like that
you believe actually we should be moving
much
faster and we should be taking much more
drastic measures well I am concerned
because we've got four weeks with four
weeks behind Italy and what we do every
single day of those four weeks is
absolutely critical I don't want a
second-guess the advice the scientists
are giving but I would like to see what
the modeling is from the behavioral
scientists that says that you know we
can go too early with some of these
measures because I think most people's
priority is is their elderly loved ones
who are most vulnerable
you know perhaps eight nine percent
mortality rates if they get the virus
and to do everything possible to make
sure that they don't get the virus but
then if I put you back into your old
position as Secretary of State for
Health would you be looking at the
Health Service saying yes I wish we
could do this but actually in order to
bring the Health Service up to a scale
in which it can cope at all we must not
take these drastic measures well the
point of taking drastic measures is to
slow the onslaught on the NHS so 5% of
the population get the virus and 5% of
those people need an intensive care bed
that's over 150,000 people who will need
intensive care and we only have four
thousand beds so this phrase flattening
the curve is incredibly important to
delay the moment that it hits the NHS to
give the NHS more time to very short
questions Jeremy Hunt the optimist where
we would be in four weeks Jeremy Hunt
the pessimist
where we would be in four weeks well I'm
still optimistic that we can head off
what's happening those horrific scenes
that we're seeing in Italy because I
think the NHS is very good at dealing
with these emergencies and I think we
have four weeks and we have a lot more
knowledge than the Italian authorities
had four weeks ago and the pessimist the
pessimist says to me that it is going to
be very very challenging to find enough
intensive care beds in whether it's the
NHS or any other system and so we we
really need to use every hour we have
over the next few weeks wisely to make
those preparations and what would your
message to the
NHS staff that you used to interact with
and run they are absolutely amazing and
you know we know we can count on them
and we know we need to do everything
possible to spread the pressure that is
coming down the track so that it doesn't
all come in a very concentrated period
which means that doctors have to play
God and decide who gets to live and who
gets to die that's the biggest nightmare
for any doctor and we want to try and
avoid that as much as possible Jeremy
Hunt thank you very much indeed for
joining us thank you joining me now is
saffron Cordray of the NHS providers and
dr. Jenny Vaughn from the doctors
association who's been caring for
acutely ill patients this week dr. Jenny
Vaughan first just reflecting on what
the former health secretary was saying
there a bit of a disagreement with the
current health secretary advice do you
think additional lives will be lost
because the government is not now
restricting social gatherings I think
that is possible the government are
saying that they are basing everything
on science but of course there are
concerns about this and I can tell you
now in the hospitals that I've obviously
been where I work in three different
hospitals everyone is looking at all the
meetings they are going to and those
meetings are being cancelled and they
are being conducted in different ways
and so it's hard to think why why that
what's the logic of cancelling smaller
meetings with you know a smaller number
of people and yet we're not actually
looking at lot of banning larger mass
gatherings so from Corddry let me ask
you to respond to that and just with the
additional information Czech Republic
has far fewer cases in the UK and
they're shutting borders Denmark's at a
comparable number of cases they're
shutting schools and public events
what are they know that we don't I think
it's how we approach this and what we've
got to be really clear about and I think
we heard it this afternoon from the
chief medical officer is that it's
really important not to go too early on
this because we've got to make sure that
people can sustain this social isolation
they can sustain not moving around and I
think that is absolutely critical
because we know the behavioral science
shows us if people go too early then
they're going to kind of break out of
the
a views that we're asking them to adopt
but is that about flattening the peak of
the epidemic because the NHS couldn't
currently cope with a massive surge
absolutely and we have to flatten the
peak of this epidemic we really need to
make sure that if it continues over a
sustained period rather than goes right
up and comes down because then we are
talking about how we manage the the
number of patients that were becoming in
needing more critical care so in the NHS
couldn't do that if it soars right now
if it soars right now we would be really
challenged and we heard the prime
minister saying that this is the biggest
public health challenge of our
generation and it's absolutely critical
that we do what we can to smooth this
curve to give us more time to manage
people over a sustained period dr. Jenny
Vaughan
how many intensive care beds do you
reckon we're sure if this does surge now
well one figure I've heard and this is
the concern is that at the moment in
Italy they're having to ventilate and
not as many people are turning up in one
day that they would have to ventilate in
two months and then some of the many of
these are having to be then ventilated
for two to three weeks so I've seen the
honest answer to that is we simply don't
have enough ICU beds but more important
but equally importantly if not more
importantly we have a massive staffing
saw shortage we are we are 50,000 nurses
down and we have to if you've got a
ventilator you also have to staff it
with critical care nurses and these are
not easy to find and so many of them are
left the other things that are coming
from the frontline er people are still
not got reasonable access to personal
protective equipment even though you
have promised that by the health
secretary it's not getting to the
frontline and the other thing is many
medical staff they're turning up for
work they may have a small amount of
flu-like symptoms they're then having to
leave the premises go home
all they want to do is go back and serve
their patients but actually there's
still a delay it's still taking you know
something some cases it's not taking 24
hours and yet they they then can't get
back to work we know that there are
medical colleagues of ours undergoing
critical care at the moment all we want
to do is get in and serve on patients in
a safe way we really think that there
should be priority testing for
healthcare workers across this nation
because they are the priority here
looking after the patients so that we
can get back and do
our jobs on the front line that's what
we're looking to see from the government
at the moment and if you look at the
figures from Italy when you horrifying
really when you see the pictures in the
hospitals Italy has I think twelve and a
half critical care beds per 100,000
people we have six point six are you
worried about that lack of beds I think
what we need to focus on is how we can
scale up that critical care capacity and
we we know that we can do that at the
moment we are treating people with
coronavirus and we are also continuing
to treat other cases other emergency
situations and people who have had
elective operations so regular
treatments that kind of thing we are
going to move to a phase we're not there
yet but we are going to move to a phase
where we need to focus on canceling
operations so we free up critical care
beds so we free up other spaces in
hospitals where we can put in that
additional capacity and the other thing
we can do at that point if at the
staffing though is it's all very well
having ventilators I like to just come
back to this point we have lost we are
downing 50,000 nurses in this country
and most particularly for the
ventilators you need critical care
nurses what a couple indeed are going to
come from I mean it looks like you've
got to supply the ventilators where the
staff coming to okay the government says
use written a blank check to the NHS on
coronavirus notes you can't come up with
critical care nurses to staff
ventilators just like these these the
people that we should be welcoming back
into this country come and you know come
and staff come and look after our
patient that is a real real worry how
can it alignment but you need the staff
on the frontline to look after the
patients how fearful are you very
fearful
we will news we will lose our colleagues
we will be burying our colleagues we
know that we know that's happened in
China we know that's in Italy but let's
not make no mistake about this the
medical front line is ready willing and
able to try and help deal with this
pandemic but we must have faster testing
more equipment and we must have the
proper staffing to try and help us deal
with this it's really sobering hearing
you talk about burying your colleagues
yeah and obviously the Prime Minister
days talking about preparing people to
lose their loved ones are people in any
way psychologically ready for the scale
of loss that we may be looking
I think what we are looking at is an
epidemic in this country we know that
people don't have the immunity to this
particular virus which is why it is
taking hold so we do need to be prepared
for the seriousness of this and I think
this is also about everyone taking
responsibility for what they're doing
the hand-washing message is someone I
heard someone talking about it today a
health official saying it's screamingly
important that we wash our hands
regularly but we also have to do some
other responsible things like making
sure we can discharge fit people from
hospital so making sure that there's a
clear path out into Social Care not all
of those waits while people choose a
social care home let's get them in there
quickly so it's about clearing capacity
but I don't want to undermine what my
colleague has said there it's absolutely
critical that we realize that this is a
really really challenging situation
staff on the frontline hospital leaders
ambulance trust leaders those work in
mental health all pulling together to do
what they can but it's going to be
really challenging but they've got the
plans in place and they are doing
everything they can that off what about
staff having to make hard decisions you
know in Italy anyone over the age of 65
or even young people with pre-existing
conditions many of those are simply not
making it anywhere near a ventilator
there are some really really concerning
issues that you know on the frontline we
are worried about making those hard
decisions and having real guidance so
that when professionals are on the
frontline having to do it they are able
to do it it's it's very incredibly
difficult