What does Britain know about coronavirus that the rest of Europe doesn't? - CNN

Flanked by the country's chief scientific and medical advisers, the Prime Minister announced that his government was moving to the "delay" phase of its plan to tackle the outbreak, and warned Britons that they were facing their "worst public health crisis for a generation" and should be prepared "to lose loved ones before their time."

And yet, faced with such grave prospects, would the UK be taking the same stringent precautions as other affected countries? No, was the answer. At least not for now.

The British government has repeatedly said it does not believe that banning large-scale gatherings and closing schools -- like Italy, France, Germany and Spain have done -- would be effective in preventing the spread of the disease.

This comes despite the fact that parts of the British Isles, including the Republic of Ireland and Scotland (which is in the UK but has a separate healthcare system), are now emulating their continental neighbors.

However, with Johnson under pressure to do the same, the government said late on Friday it was planning to publish emergency legislation to ban large events.

"Ministers are working with the chief scientific adviser and chief medical officer on our plan to stop various types of public event, including mass gatherings, beginning next week," a Whitehall source told PA Media.

"We are also talking to businesses and other bodies about the timing of moving towards much more widespread working from home.

"We have drafted emergency legislation to give the government the powers it needs to deal with coronavirus, including powers to stop mass gatherings and compensate organizations."

The reason the UK has held off stricter "social distancing" measures appears to be rooted in the government's prediction that the outbreak may not peak until 14 weeks from now -- and that people will not be willing to drastically alter their ways of life and stick to the new rules for over three months, so there's little point imposing more restrictions just yet.

The latest recommendation for Britons is to self-isolate for seven days if they begin to experience a persistent cough or high temperature, and to continue with rigorous hygiene like frequently washing their hands and disinfecting surfaces.

Government ministers claim their decisions are being led purely by science. That science, they say, currently suggests that it would be beneficial for the country to build up some sort of herd immunity to the novel coronavirus strain in the long run. In short, authorities do want some Britons to get the bug, especially since for many, its symptoms will not be particularly debilitating.

The approach has divided opinion in the medical community. Some experts have accused Johnson of failing to grasp the severity of the situation, while others have praised the government for refusing to bow to continent-wide pressure to clamp down on the public's movements.

As of Friday, the number of confirmed cases in the UK stood at 798, with 10 deaths. However, the government's chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance has admitted it was possible that 5,000 to 10,000 people may already be infected. And with testing capacity now about to be ramped up to 10,000 people a day, numbers will surely rise.

Medics warn of complacency

Government scientists said they have noticed that the virus typically results in a mild infection initially for patients with no underlying health conditions, which lasts about five days, but for the elderly or infirm, the pathogen enters a second phase thereafter, prompting an immune response that causes much of the damage that kills.

The experts' hope is that the UK's new plan will push the disease's peak past the traditional end of the flu season in April and into the summer, when the country's hospitals will be under less strain.

But many prominent members of the medical community are unconvinced by the government's approach. Doctors on the front line of intensive care units have warned about the potential lack of respirators, as seen in Italy and China when cases peaked there, and said that if staff become sick themselves, access to experienced labor could become a problem.

The editor-in-chief of the influential journal The Lancet criticized the UK's response to the crisis. "To avoid an unmanageable catastrophe in the UK, we need to be honest about what seems likely to happen in coming weeks. We need urgent surge capacity in intensive care. The NHS is not prepared," Richard Horton tweeted Thursday.

"I am not being alarmist. What is happening in Italy is real and taking place now. Our government is not preparing us for that reality. We need immediate and assertive social distancing and closure policies. We need to prepare the NHS. This is a serious plea."

For a country that until fairly recently routinely imposed quarantines on family pets, it's ironic that Johnson's "island mentality" -- made famous by his enthusiastic support for leaving the European Union -- seems not to stretch to public health, for ministers dismissed the suggestion Britain could shut its borders as US President Donald Trump ordered this week.

'He's not doing a Trump'

Some scientists did offer words of support for the UK's measures.

"I am the first to admit that I'm not Boris Johnson's biggest fan. But I'm relatively impressed that unlike other political leaders, who've kind of bowed to the pressure of each other and their populations to implement school closures -- which we don't have enough evidence to know if it will make a difference or not -- Johnson is listening to the current evidence that's out there," Dr. Clare Wenham, assistant professor of global health policy at the London School of Economics, told CNN.

"He's not doing a Trump and shutting down borders, which we know will have no effect. He's taking a rather measured approach now -- but yes, it's a gamble."

Wenham added that she believed the government's priority was to avoid panic, and ensure the public's cooperation with prevention measures.

"It's a political gamble if they get it wrong. If all the countries that implemented school closures and mass travel and mass gatherings see reductions in rates, and the rates in the UK are soaring -- that's a gamble," she said.

"We know for example that shutting schools works for influenza because children are super-spreaders. We don't know if that's true for coronavirus yet. But I think the government is saying 'look, we don't yet know if kids are super-spreaders. So, why cause all the havoc of disrupting people's lives?'"

Keith Neal, emeritus professor in the epidemiology of infectious diseases at the University of Nottingham, also said he backed moves to contain the outbreak.

"The plans are sensible, it is very easy to say more needs to be done, but there is little evidence to make any decision," he told PA Media.

But former health secretary Jeremy Hunt told the BBC that many people "will be surprised and concerned" by the lack of action in controlling movements. "I think it is surprising and concerning that we're not doing any of it at all when we have just four weeks before we get to the stage that Italy is at.

"You would have thought that every single thing we do in that four weeks would be designed to slow the spread of people catching the virus."

'Spray, pay and pray'

Where the government has been more comfortable making decisive moves is on the economy.

New Chancellor Rishi Sunak this week put emergency funds on the table in his maiden budget -- not just to shore up the UK's National Health Service at a time of emergency, but also to shield small- to medium-sized businesses and the "gig economy," replete with freelancers, from the effects of having staff off sick or working from home in isolation.

In a coordinated approach, the Bank of England also cut rates and announced stimulus.

The strategy was dubbed "Spray, pay and pray" by the Financial Times' Lex column.

And therein lies the clue: Downing Street seems to think the panic caused by the new strain of the virus -- or Covid-19 as it has become known -- could be more dangerous in the long run than the actual illness itself.

Whether the gamble of "keeping calm and carrying on" in the face of the coronavirus is the appropriate approach, only time will tell.

Tara John contributed to this report.

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2020-03-14 12:13:00Z
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What does Britain know about coronavirus that the rest of Europe doesn't? - CNN

Flanked by the country's chief scientific and medical advisers, the Prime Minister announced that his government was moving to the "delay" phase of its plan to tackle the outbreak, and warned Britons that they were facing their "worst public health crisis for a generation" and should be prepared "to lose loved ones before their time."

And yet, faced with such grave prospects, would the UK be taking the same stringent precautions as other affected countries? No, was the answer. At least not for now.

The British government has repeatedly said it does not believe that banning large-scale gatherings and closing schools -- like Italy, France, Germany and Spain have done -- would be effective in preventing the spread of the disease.

This comes despite the fact that parts of the British Isles, including the Republic of Ireland and Scotland (which is in the UK but has a separate healthcare system), are now emulating their continental neighbors.

However, with Johnson under pressure to do the same, the government said late on Friday it was planning to publish emergency legislation to ban large events.

"Ministers are working with the chief scientific adviser and chief medical officer on our plan to stop various types of public event, including mass gatherings, beginning next week," a Whitehall source told PA Media.

"We are also talking to businesses and other bodies about the timing of moving towards much more widespread working from home.

"We have drafted emergency legislation to give the government the powers it needs to deal with coronavirus, including powers to stop mass gatherings and compensate organizations."

The reason the UK has held off stricter "social distancing" measures appears to be rooted in the government's prediction that the outbreak may not peak until 14 weeks from now -- and that people will not be willing to drastically alter their ways of life and stick to the new rules for over three months, so there's little point imposing more restrictions just yet.

The latest recommendation for Britons is to self-isolate for seven days if they begin to experience a persistent cough or high temperature, and to continue with rigorous hygiene like frequently washing their hands and disinfecting surfaces.

Government ministers claim their decisions are being led purely by science. That science, they say, currently suggests that it would be beneficial for the country to build up some sort of herd immunity to the novel coronavirus strain in the long run. In short, authorities do want some Britons to get the bug, especially since for many, its symptoms will not be particularly debilitating.

The approach has divided opinion in the medical community. Some experts have accused Johnson of failing to grasp the severity of the situation, while others have praised the government for refusing to bow to continent-wide pressure to clamp down on the public's movements.

As of Friday, the number of confirmed cases in the UK stood at 798, with 10 deaths. However, the government's chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance has admitted it was possible that 5,000 to 10,000 people may already be infected. And with testing capacity now about to be ramped up to 10,000 people a day, numbers will surely rise.

Medics warn of complacency

Government scientists said they have noticed that the virus typically results in a mild infection initially for patients with no underlying health conditions, which lasts about five days, but for the elderly or infirm, the pathogen enters a second phase thereafter, prompting an immune response that causes much of the damage that kills.

The experts' hope is that the UK's new plan will push the disease's peak past the traditional end of the flu season in April and into the summer, when the country's hospitals will be under less strain.

But many prominent members of the medical community are unconvinced by the government's approach. Doctors on the front line of intensive care units have warned about the potential lack of respirators, as seen in Italy and China when cases peaked there, and said that if staff become sick themselves, access to experienced labor could become a problem.

The editor-in-chief of the influential journal The Lancet criticized the UK's response to the crisis. "To avoid an unmanageable catastrophe in the UK, we need to be honest about what seems likely to happen in coming weeks. We need urgent surge capacity in intensive care. The NHS is not prepared," Richard Horton tweeted Thursday.

"I am not being alarmist. What is happening in Italy is real and taking place now. Our government is not preparing us for that reality. We need immediate and assertive social distancing and closure policies. We need to prepare the NHS. This is a serious plea."

For a country that until fairly recently routinely imposed quarantines on family pets, it's ironic that Johnson's "island mentality" -- made famous by his enthusiastic support for leaving the European Union -- seems not to stretch to public health, for ministers dismissed the suggestion Britain could shut its borders as US President Donald Trump ordered this week.

'He's not doing a Trump'

Some scientists did offer words of support for the UK's measures.

"I am the first to admit that I'm not Boris Johnson's biggest fan. But I'm relatively impressed that unlike other political leaders, who've kind of bowed to the pressure of each other and their populations to implement school closures -- which we don't have enough evidence to know if it will make a difference or not -- Johnson is listening to the current evidence that's out there," Dr. Clare Wenham, assistant professor of global health policy at the London School of Economics, told CNN.

"He's not doing a Trump and shutting down borders, which we know will have no effect. He's taking a rather measured approach now -- but yes, it's a gamble."

Wenham added that she believed the government's priority was to avoid panic, and ensure the public's cooperation with prevention measures.

"It's a political gamble if they get it wrong. If all the countries that implemented school closures and mass travel and mass gatherings see reductions in rates, and the rates in the UK are soaring -- that's a gamble," she said.

"We know for example that shutting schools works for influenza because children are super-spreaders. We don't know if that's true for coronavirus yet. But I think the government is saying 'look, we don't yet know if kids are super-spreaders. So, why cause all the havoc of disrupting people's lives?'"

Keith Neal, emeritus professor in the epidemiology of infectious diseases at the University of Nottingham, also said he backed moves to contain the outbreak.

"The plans are sensible, it is very easy to say more needs to be done, but there is little evidence to make any decision," he told PA Media.

But former health secretary Jeremy Hunt told the BBC that many people "will be surprised and concerned" by the lack of action in controlling movements. "I think it is surprising and concerning that we're not doing any of it at all when we have just four weeks before we get to the stage that Italy is at.

"You would have thought that every single thing we do in that four weeks would be designed to slow the spread of people catching the virus."

'Spray, pay and pray'

Where the government has been more comfortable making decisive moves is on the economy.

New Chancellor Rishi Sunak this week put emergency funds on the table in his maiden budget -- not just to shore up the UK's National Health Service at a time of emergency, but also to shield small- to medium-sized businesses and the "gig economy," replete with freelancers, from the effects of having staff off sick or working from home in isolation.

In a coordinated approach, the Bank of England also cut rates and announced stimulus.

The strategy was dubbed "Spray, pay and pray" by the Financial Times' Lex column.

And therein lies the clue: Downing Street seems to think the panic caused by the new strain of the virus -- or Covid-19 as it has become known -- could be more dangerous in the long run than the actual illness itself.

Whether the gamble of "keeping calm and carrying on" in the face of the coronavirus is the appropriate approach, only time will tell.

Tara John contributed to this report.

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2020-03-14 12:11:48Z
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What does Britain know about coronavirus that the rest of Europe doesn't? - CNN

Flanked by the country's chief scientific and medical advisers, the Prime Minister announced that his government was moving to the "delay" phase of its plan to tackle the outbreak, and warned Britons that they were facing their "worst public health crisis for a generation" and should be prepared "to lose loved ones before their time."

And yet, faced with such grave prospects, would the UK be taking the same stringent precautions as other affected countries? No, was the answer. At least not for now.

The British government has repeatedly said it does not believe that banning large-scale gatherings and closing schools -- like Italy, France, Germany and Spain have done -- would be effective in preventing the spread of the disease.

This comes despite the fact that parts of the British Isles, including the Republic of Ireland and Scotland (which is in the UK but has a separate healthcare system), are now emulating their continental neighbors.

However, with Johnson under pressure to do the same, the government said late on Friday it was planning to publish emergency legislation to ban large events.

"Ministers are working with the chief scientific adviser and chief medical officer on our plan to stop various types of public event, including mass gatherings, beginning next week," a Whitehall source told PA Media.

"We are also talking to businesses and other bodies about the timing of moving towards much more widespread working from home.

"We have drafted emergency legislation to give the government the powers it needs to deal with coronavirus, including powers to stop mass gatherings and compensate organizations."

The reason the UK has held off stricter "social distancing" measures appears to be rooted in the government's prediction that the outbreak may not peak until 14 weeks from now -- and that people will not be willing to drastically alter their ways of life and stick to the new rules for over three months, so there's little point imposing more restrictions just yet.

The latest recommendation for Britons is to self-isolate for seven days if they begin to experience a persistent cough or high temperature, and to continue with rigorous hygiene like frequently washing their hands and disinfecting surfaces.

Government ministers claim their decisions are being led purely by science. That science, they say, currently suggests that it would be beneficial for the country to build up some sort of herd immunity to the novel coronavirus strain in the long run. In short, authorities do want some Britons to get the bug, especially since for many, its symptoms will not be particularly debilitating.

The approach has divided opinion in the medical community. Some experts have accused Johnson of failing to grasp the severity of the situation, while others have praised the government for refusing to bow to continent-wide pressure to clamp down on the public's movements.

As of Friday, the number of confirmed cases in the UK stood at 798, with 10 deaths. However, the government's chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance has admitted it was possible that 5,000 to 10,000 people may already be infected. And with testing capacity now about to be ramped up to 10,000 people a day, numbers will surely rise.

Medics warn of complacency

Government scientists said they have noticed that the virus typically results in a mild infection initially for patients with no underlying health conditions, which lasts about five days, but for the elderly or infirm, the pathogen enters a second phase thereafter, prompting an immune response that causes much of the damage that kills.

The experts' hope is that the UK's new plan will push the disease's peak past the traditional end of the flu season in April and into the summer, when the country's hospitals will be under less strain.

But many prominent members of the medical community are unconvinced by the government's approach. Doctors on the front line of intensive care units have warned about the potential lack of respirators, as seen in Italy and China when cases peaked there, and said that if staff become sick themselves, access to experienced labor could become a problem.

The editor-in-chief of the influential journal The Lancet criticized the UK's response to the crisis. "To avoid an unmanageable catastrophe in the UK, we need to be honest about what seems likely to happen in coming weeks. We need urgent surge capacity in intensive care. The NHS is not prepared," Richard Horton tweeted Thursday.

"I am not being alarmist. What is happening in Italy is real and taking place now. Our government is not preparing us for that reality. We need immediate and assertive social distancing and closure policies. We need to prepare the NHS. This is a serious plea."

For a country that until fairly recently routinely imposed quarantines on family pets, it's ironic that Johnson's "island mentality" -- made famous by his enthusiastic support for leaving the European Union -- seems not to stretch to public health, for ministers dismissed the suggestion Britain could shut its borders as US President Donald Trump ordered this week.

'He's not doing a Trump'

Some scientists did offer words of support for the UK's measures.

"I am the first to admit that I'm not Boris Johnson's biggest fan. But I'm relatively impressed that unlike other political leaders, who've kind of bowed to the pressure of each other and their populations to implement school closures -- which we don't have enough evidence to know if it will make a difference or not -- Johnson is listening to the current evidence that's out there," Dr. Clare Wenham, assistant professor of global health policy at the London School of Economics, told CNN.

"He's not doing a Trump and shutting down borders, which we know will have no effect. He's taking a rather measured approach now -- but yes, it's a gamble."

Wenham added that she believed the government's priority was to avoid panic, and ensure the public's cooperation with prevention measures.

"It's a political gamble if they get it wrong. If all the countries that implemented school closures and mass travel and mass gatherings see reductions in rates, and the rates in the UK are soaring -- that's a gamble," she said.

"We know for example that shutting schools works for influenza because children are super-spreaders. We don't know if that's true for coronavirus yet. But I think the government is saying 'look, we don't yet know if kids are super-spreaders. So, why cause all the havoc of disrupting people's lives?'"

Keith Neal, emeritus professor in the epidemiology of infectious diseases at the University of Nottingham, also said he backed moves to contain the outbreak.

"The plans are sensible, it is very easy to say more needs to be done, but there is little evidence to make any decision," he told PA Media.

But former health secretary Jeremy Hunt told the BBC that many people "will be surprised and concerned" by the lack of action in controlling movements. "I think it is surprising and concerning that we're not doing any of it at all when we have just four weeks before we get to the stage that Italy is at.

"You would have thought that every single thing we do in that four weeks would be designed to slow the spread of people catching the virus."

'Spray, pay and pray'

Where the government has been more comfortable making decisive moves is on the economy.

New Chancellor Rishi Sunak this week put emergency funds on the table in his maiden budget -- not just to shore up the UK's National Health Service at a time of emergency, but also to shield small- to medium-sized businesses and the "gig economy," replete with freelancers, from the effects of having staff off sick or working from home in isolation.

In a coordinated approach, the Bank of England also cut rates and announced stimulus.

The strategy was dubbed "Spray, pay and pray" by the Financial Times' Lex column.

And therein lies the clue: Downing Street seems to think the panic caused by the new strain of the virus -- or Covid-19 as it has become known -- could be more dangerous in the long run than the actual illness itself.

Whether the gamble of "keeping calm and carrying on" in the face of the coronavirus is the appropriate approach, only time will tell.

Tara John contributed to this report.

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2020-03-14 11:25:17Z
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What does Britain know about coronavirus that the rest of Europe doesn't? - CNN

Flanked by the country's chief scientific and medical advisers, the Prime Minister announced that his government was moving to the "delay" phase of its plan to tackle the outbreak, and warned Britons that they were facing their "worst public health crisis for a generation" and should be prepared "to lose loved ones before their time."

And yet, faced with such grave prospects, would the UK be taking the same stringent precautions as other affected countries? No, was the answer. At least not for now.

The British government has repeatedly said it does not believe that banning large-scale gatherings and closing schools -- like Italy, France, Germany and Spain have done -- would be effective in preventing the spread of the disease.

This comes despite the fact that parts of the British Isles, including the Republic of Ireland and Scotland (which is in the UK but has a separate healthcare system), are now emulating their continental neighbors.

However, with Johnson under pressure to do the same, the government said late on Friday it was planning to publish emergency legislation to ban large events.

"Ministers are working with the chief scientific adviser and chief medical officer on our plan to stop various types of public event, including mass gatherings, beginning next week," a Whitehall source told PA Media.

"We are also talking to businesses and other bodies about the timing of moving towards much more widespread working from home.

"We have drafted emergency legislation to give the government the powers it needs to deal with coronavirus, including powers to stop mass gatherings and compensate organizations."

The reason the UK has held off stricter "social distancing" measures appears to be rooted in the government's prediction that the outbreak may not peak until 14 weeks from now -- and that people will not be willing to drastically alter their ways of life and stick to the new rules for over three months, so there's little point imposing more restrictions just yet.

The latest recommendation for Britons is to self-isolate for seven days if they begin to experience a persistent cough or high temperature, and to continue with rigorous hygiene like frequently washing their hands and disinfecting surfaces.

Government ministers claim their decisions are being led purely by science. That science, they say, currently suggests that it would be beneficial for the country to build up some sort of herd immunity to the novel coronavirus strain in the long run. In short, authorities do want some Britons to get the bug, especially since for many, its symptoms will not be particularly debilitating.

The approach has divided opinion in the medical community. Some experts have accused Johnson of failing to grasp the severity of the situation, while others have praised the government for refusing to bow to continent-wide pressure to clamp down on the public's movements.

As of Friday, the number of confirmed cases in the UK stood at 798, with 10 deaths. However, the government's chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance has admitted it was possible that 5,000 to 10,000 people may already be infected. And with testing capacity now about to be ramped up to 10,000 people a day, numbers will surely rise.

Medics warn of complacency

Government scientists said they have noticed that the virus typically results in a mild infection initially for patients with no underlying health conditions, which lasts about five days, but for the elderly or infirm, the pathogen enters a second phase thereafter, prompting an immune response that causes much of the damage that kills.

The experts' hope is that the UK's new plan will push the disease's peak past the traditional end of the flu season in April and into the summer, when the country's hospitals will be under less strain.

But many prominent members of the medical community are unconvinced by the government's approach. Doctors on the front line of intensive care units have warned about the potential lack of respirators, as seen in Italy and China when cases peaked there, and said that if staff become sick themselves, access to experienced labor could become a problem.

The editor-in-chief of the influential journal The Lancet criticized the UK's response to the crisis. "To avoid an unmanageable catastrophe in the UK, we need to be honest about what seems likely to happen in coming weeks. We need urgent surge capacity in intensive care. The NHS is not prepared," Richard Horton tweeted Thursday.

"I am not being alarmist. What is happening in Italy is real and taking place now. Our government is not preparing us for that reality. We need immediate and assertive social distancing and closure policies. We need to prepare the NHS. This is a serious plea."

For a country that until fairly recently routinely imposed quarantines on family pets, it's ironic that Johnson's "island mentality" -- made famous by his enthusiastic support for leaving the European Union -- seems not to stretch to public health, for ministers dismissed the suggestion Britain could shut its borders as US President Donald Trump ordered this week.

'He's not doing a Trump'

Some scientists did offer words of support for the UK's measures.

"I am the first to admit that I'm not Boris Johnson's biggest fan. But I'm relatively impressed that unlike other political leaders, who've kind of bowed to the pressure of each other and their populations to implement school closures -- which we don't have enough evidence to know if it will make a difference or not -- Johnson is listening to the current evidence that's out there," Dr. Clare Wenham, assistant professor of global health policy at the London School of Economics, told CNN.

"He's not doing a Trump and shutting down borders, which we know will have no effect. He's taking a rather measured approach now -- but yes, it's a gamble."

Wenham added that she believed the government's priority was to avoid panic, and ensure the public's cooperation with prevention measures.

"It's a political gamble if they get it wrong. If all the countries that implemented school closures and mass travel and mass gatherings see reductions in rates, and the rates in the UK are soaring -- that's a gamble," she said.

"We know for example that shutting schools works for influenza because children are super-spreaders. We don't know if that's true for coronavirus yet. But I think the government is saying 'look, we don't yet know if kids are super-spreaders. So, why cause all the havoc of disrupting people's lives?'"

Keith Neal, emeritus professor in the epidemiology of infectious diseases at the University of Nottingham, also said he backed moves to contain the outbreak.

"The plans are sensible, it is very easy to say more needs to be done, but there is little evidence to make any decision," he told PA Media.

But former health secretary Jeremy Hunt told the BBC that many people "will be surprised and concerned" by the lack of action in controlling movements. "I think it is surprising and concerning that we're not doing any of it at all when we have just four weeks before we get to the stage that Italy is at.

"You would have thought that every single thing we do in that four weeks would be designed to slow the spread of people catching the virus."

'Spray, pay and pray'

Where the government has been more comfortable making decisive moves is on the economy.

New Chancellor Rishi Sunak this week put emergency funds on the table in his maiden budget -- not just to shore up the UK's National Health Service at a time of emergency, but also to shield small- to medium-sized businesses and the "gig economy," replete with freelancers, from the effects of having staff off sick or working from home in isolation.

In a coordinated approach, the Bank of England also cut rates and announced stimulus.

The strategy was dubbed "Spray, pay and pray" by the Financial Times' Lex column.

And therein lies the clue: Downing Street seems to think the panic caused by the new strain of the virus -- or Covid-19 as it has become known -- could be more dangerous in the long run than the actual illness itself.

Whether the gamble of "keeping calm and carrying on" in the face of the coronavirus is the appropriate approach, only time will tell.

Tara John contributed to this report.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiW2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNubi5jb20vMjAyMC8wMy8xMy91ay91ay1jb3JvbmF2aXJ1cy1yZXNwb25zZS1ib3Jpcy1qb2huc29uLWludGwtZ2JyL2luZGV4Lmh0bWzSAV9odHRwczovL2FtcC5jbm4uY29tL2Nubi8yMDIwLzAzLzEzL3VrL3VrLWNvcm9uYXZpcnVzLXJlc3BvbnNlLWJvcmlzLWpvaG5zb24taW50bC1nYnIvaW5kZXguaHRtbA?oc=5

2020-03-14 11:24:46Z
52780660066279

Coronavirus: UK could ban mass gatherings from next week - BBC News

Mass gatherings could be banned in the UK from as early as next weekend as the outbreak of coronavirus intensifies.

A government source said ministers were now drawing up plans for the move - to ease pressure on emergency services.

It came hours after the government's chief scientific advisor insisted it was not the right time to shut down big events.

Scores of major sporting and cultural events have already been cancelled in response to the pandemic.

The number of confirmed cases of the virus in the UK rose to 798 on Friday and a total of 11 people have died.

But the government estimates the true number of cases to be around 5,000 to 10,000 around the UK.

It is understood ministers are working on plans to stop various types of public events.

The source said: "There are many complex considerations to make all these measures as effective as possible.

"We will make the right decisions at the right time based on the best scientific evidence."

It is thought a ban could start to take effect as early as next weekend, although exact timescales are not clear.

There has been criticism of the government's handling of the crisis, including from former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who described its previous decision to hold off cancelling large gatherings as "concerning".

Acting Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey told BBC Newsnight that the government's "rapid change" in tactic following the cancellation of sporting events suggested it was "playing catch-up with the rest of British society".

Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth welcomed the move but urged the government to be "clear" about its plans.

"If that means publishing the scientific modelling so that all the experts can analyse it and peer review it and stress test it, if that maintains public confidence, that's an important step," the Labour MP told Newsnight.

The government's action plan - published last week - did raise the possibility of reducing the number of large-scale gatherings.

But the most recent tactics, announced on Thursday, advised people to self-isolate for seven days if they have a cough or fever, with no advice to avoid large gatherings.

Speaking on Friday, the UK's chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said shutting down mass events would not have a "big effect" on transmission rates - though he did not rule out such a move going forward.

Whitehall sources say the government's approach has not changed but that there were concerns about the burden that large events might put on health services and the police.

Prominent events still set to go ahead include the Grand National in April, the 75th anniversary VE Day commemorations and Chelsea Flower Show in May, and Glastonbury Festival in June.

• British football suspended until 3 April

• Radio 1 Big Weekend cancelled due to coronavirus
• Catholic churches preparing to suspend Mass

Emergency legislation - including compensation for organisations affected by a temporary ban on big events - is due to be published next week.

Many sports bodies did not wait for a government directive and have already suspended competitions.

Football authorities suspended all top-flight matches until early April, while Saturday's Wales v Scotland Six Nations rugby match was suspended and England's cricket tour of Sri Lanka was called off.

The Scottish government has already advised that gatherings of more than 500 people should be cancelled from next week.

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English local and mayoral elections, planned for May, are being postponed for a year until May 2021.

Small businesses such as music venues are also starting to feel the squeeze.

Music venue owner Vince Power told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he had a sell-out show on Friday night near London's Portobello Road, but fewer than half of the 550 people who had bought tickets showed up.

"I think people are scared," Mr Power said.

"I feel sad about the whole thing," he added, blaming the "uncertainty" and lack of direction given to small businesses. "The news keeps changing every day."

Bands are also cancelling, he said. "They are just saying they are just unsure, they don't know... they have got no real reason."

Mr Power, whose venues hold between 100 and about 500 guests, said: "Venues are sold out but people are not coming."

Mr Power warned that his business "can't really last very long" - just a few weeks.

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2020-03-14 10:12:46Z
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Britain takes different approach to coronavirus outbreak, leaving some asking why - NBC News

LONDON — No one is sugarcoating the coronavirus in the United Kingdom.

Experts in the government have revealed that as many as 10,000 might already be infected in the country, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson warning Thursday, "I must level with you, the British public: Many more families are going to lose their loved ones before their time."

And yet the U.K. is becoming increasingly isolated in its response to the pandemic. It is one of the only major countries of Western Europe to impose few, if any, restrictions on daily life.

The U.K.'s tactics, which are backed by its top team of epidemiologists and behavioral psychologists, have left many here asking: Why do our experts disagree with those in most other countries?

March 10, 202000:58

The disparity has also highlighted that while "flatten the curve" has become something of a mantra, there is considerable disagreement among experts about the best way to achieve that.

The U.K. has emerged somewhat out on its own in the international community.

Thursday brought a major shift in its government strategy, moving from the "contain" to the "delay" phase of its plan. That effectively concedes that the virus is here, that it will spread rapidly and widely through society, and the focus should be on slowing it down.

The U.K's Electoral Commission said Friday it was postponing more than 300 local elections for 12 months, including the contest to be London mayor which was due to be held on May 7.

But still, the government did not introduce measures to close schools, ban large gatherings or sporting events, or impose restrictions on travel, like some had predicted it might.

"The most important thing individuals can do to protect themselves remains washing their hands more often," updated guidelines read. "Make sure you cough or sneeze into a tissue, put it in a bin and wash your hands."

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Anyone with a fever or a new, persistent cough is being told to stay at home and self-isolate for seven days. Many observers were surprised that the guidance did not go further.

For example, until Thursday night, England's domestic soccer competition, the Premier League, was the only major league in Europe still going ahead without any disruption. It took an elite-level coach, Arsenal's Mikel Arteta, to test positive for the virus for officials to call an emergency meeting which led to a suspension of matches Friday until at least early April.

Contrast this with the United States, where there have been widespread cancellations, from Broadway to the NBA. Some American schools and colleges have shuttered, and President Donald Trump has imposed sweeping international travel bans and declared a national emergency.

Empty shelves in the toilet roll/kitchen towel aisle of a supermarket in London on Friday as consumers worry about product shortages, leading to the stockpiling of household products due to the outbreak of the new coronavirus.Justin Tallis / AFP - Getty Images

In Italy, the worst-hit country outside of China, public life has all but shut down, with bars and restaurants closed for two weeks and police issuing fines to anyone caught in certain areas without good reason.

Across Europe, from France and Germany to Norway and Ireland, schools have been closed, sporting events have been canceled.

Britain has taken a different tack.

Sir Patrick Vallance, U.K.'s chief scientific adviser, defended the government’s strategy Friday, telling the BBC that instructing people with a cough or a fever to self-isolate would have the “biggest impact” in tackling the coronavirus.

Vallance said people were more likely to get infected from a family member or a friend in a small place than in a big place with lots of people. And asked why the government hadn't shut down schools, he said the role of children in spreading the disease was "less clear."

“It’s inconceivable that those children are not going to mix anyway and, of course, many of them may be sent to be looked after by their grandparents during that period,” he added.

Vallance told Sky News said the government hoped to create “herd immunity” in the U.K. to protect the country from future outbreaks. He said achieving this would involve around 60 percent of the U.K.'s 66 million people caching the virus.

"Communities will become immune to it and that's going to be an important part of controlling this longer term," he said.

Not all British health experts and policymakers agree with the government’s assessment of how to tackle the outbreak.

A "Do Not Enter sign" and National Health Service information about the coronavirus is displayed at the entrance to a doctors surgery in north London on Friday. John Sibley / Reuters

“The U.K. is on the edge of an avoidable calamity,” tweeted Richard Horton, the editor-in-chief of The Lancet, a general medical journal.

"Read the Italian experience. There are critical lessons here that the UK government either isn’t aware of or is ignoring," he said.

"We need immediate and assertive social distancing and closure policies. We need to prepare the NHS. This is a serious plea," he added, referring to Britain's much-beloved National Health Service.

Former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt also criticized the government’s strategy.

“I think it is surprising and cornering that we’re not doing any of it at all when we have just four weeks before we get to the stage that Italy is at,” he told BBC’s Newsnight program Thursday.

“You would have thought that every single thing we do in those four weeks would be to slow the spread of people catching the virus.”

Alexander Smith

Alexander Smith is a senior reporter for NBC News Digital based in London.

Saphora Smith

Saphora Smith is a London-based reporter for NBC News Digital. 

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2020-03-14 09:10:57Z
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Europe travel ban: Will it be possible to sneak into the US via the UK? - CNN

(CNN) — President Trump's recently announced travel ban prevents many non-Americans flying from Europe to the US, but does leaving the UK and Ireland off the restricted list leave a back door open to sneak through?

In force from midnight on March 13, the restriction affects travelers coming from any of the 26 countries making up the Schengen area -- an open border zone within Europe. It also includes people who've been in those countries within the past 14 days.

As soon as the surprise coronavirus-related measure was announced late Wednesday, questions started to be asked about whether travelers could simply hop on a flight or a Eurostar train to the UK and then connect to the States from there, since links between the UK, Ireland and Schengen are currently, for the most part, unrestricted.

When you're an EU resident traveling within the Schengen zone, your passport doesn't get stamped. So if there's no passport stamp to say you were ever there, who would know?

The answer is, apparently, that the United States would certainly know. And any attempt to lie about it to gain entry would be treated as a crime.

"If you take the Eurostar to London, and then try to fly to the US, you are covered by the suspension having come from a Schengen destination within 14 days -- unless you stay in London for 14 days," advises CNN travel and aviation expert Richard Quest.

The consequences of breaking the ban could be severe.

"An alien who circumvents the application of this proclamation through fraud, willful misrepresentation of a material fact, or illegal entry shall be a priority for removal by the Department of Homeland Security," is the official statement from the White House.

Airlines are going to be double checking passengers' recent movements and will be on the look out for anyone trying to bypass the new rules, according to a spokesperson for London's Heathrow Airport.

CNN understands that passengers will be required to fill out these details on their ESTA -- or Electronic System for Travel Authorization form. Lying on your ESTA form is a criminal offense.

It's not immediately clear what happens if passengers are traveling on a pre-existing ESTA.

"We can confirm airlines will be verifying passengers' immediate travel histories before departure from the UK to ensure travelers can make a safe onwards journey," the Heathrow spokesperson said.

"We continue to work closely with the government, Public Health England, Border Force, and airlines to ensure the safety of our passengers, colleagues and the wider UK."

Flight operational changes

Travelers are questioning how the new European travel ban will work in actuality.

DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP via Getty Images

The new travel ban brings with it uncertain times for those hoping to travel between Europe and the United States in the near future.

Even if passengers are US citizens and exempt from the ban, they could struggle to find flights between the Schengen zone and the United States.

Low cost carrier Norwegian has said it's grounding 40% of its long-haul fleet and canceling up to 25% of its short-haul flights until the end of May.

The airline said all routes between London Gatwick airport and the United States will operate "as normal."

"Our goal is to reroute as many of our customers as possible through London during this difficult period," says a Norwegian spokesperson.

Meanwhile, Delta said it will operate nearly a full schedule of flights from continental Europe to US gateways until March 15 "to ensure eligible customers can return to the United States."

From next week the airline said it will fly "a significantly reduced US-Europe schedule while monitoring customer demand."

Delta's change fees have been waived until the end of May.

United Airlines will also waive fees for travelers, until April 30. Regular scheduling will take place until March 19, after that the airline says it expects to fly daily to Zurich, Brussels, Paris, Amsterdam, Manchester and Edinburgh.

United also expects to run regular flights to Frankfurt and Munich, a less than daily service to Lisbon -- and maintain 18 flights to and from London, and three to Dublin.

Air France plans to continue to serve several airports that are among those approved for health screening.

SWISS also said it was preparing a special reduced flight timetable, and will only serve Chicago and Newark.

The Lufthansa group announced that its airlines will continue to serve US destinations from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Belgium.

KLM said in a statement that there were plans to "examine on a daily basis whether adjustments to the network are necessary."

The Dutch airline said it plans to "maintain the network to destinations in the US where passengers are screened for the next two weeks as long as possible, also to give customers the opportunity to travel home."

Fear of canceled flights

While US nationals and those exempt from the ban don't have to return to the United States right away, the shaky status of commercial aviation and rising prices meant many have opted to leave as soon as possible -- some via the UK.

Molly Butcher, 56, scrambled from Amsterdam to head to New York via Heathrow on Friday, paying $2,800 to fly a day earlier. Flying direct from the Netherlands would've cost her $6,000.

"We were in Amsterdam and we decided to change 'cause we thought we just wanted to get home just in case he [Trump] changes it and the UK is not exempt anymore," she told CNN.

"We're going to try to get the money back. I talked to several people on the Eurostar today, one family, four of them, paid $7,000."

"On the Eurostar it was pretty full, I'm assuming people were trying to get back out of London 'cause the ban isn't here but it's in Amsterdam and other places."

Julie Blades, 55, traveling to Chicago with her 21-year-old son Jack Colombo, said she also rerouted via London after canceling her scheduled American Airlines flight home from Paris due to leave Saturday.

"I don't want to get stuck here," she said. "The financial ramifications of getting stuck here... and I have at kid at home... I'm not one to panic. I'm worried for me and him too."

CNN's Vasco Cotovio, Eoin McSweeney and Marnie Hunter contributed to this report.

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2020-03-13 15:45:16Z
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