Coronavirus could claim more than 500,000 UK lives

Chief medical officer predicts

Adam Saville
clock • 1 min read

Government moves from ‘contain’ stage to ‘delay’ phase to combat virus as WHO announces pandemic

As of today, there were 596 confirmed cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) across the UK, however health officials have warned that the number of people currently infected could be between 5,000 and 10,000. At a press conference yesterday, Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer, said that the worst-case scenario would potentially see 80% of the country infected by the virus, which has a mortality rate of 1%. This would amount to more than 500,000 UK deaths. The prediction came as Prime Minister Boris Johnson described the coronavirus situation as "the worst public health crisis for a gene...

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