As the number of confirmed cases in the UK rose to 85, the Department of Health and Social Care said it will delay information on which parts of the UK are affected for up to a week. Concerned Britons were quick to hit out at governmental body, with some saying the new measures proved public servants “can’t cope” as they questioned what would happen if the situation escalates further. On Wednesday the DHSC said instead of providing daily updates on Twitter, as it had been doing up until now, it would publish locations of all new cases in a weekly list. 

A man with the Twitter handle @RichardDPoole said: “Transparency and openness is key to effective public buy in and acceptance of containment measures. 

“Once a week won’t help the situation one bit.” 

Another Twitter user slammed the development as “ridiculous”. 

@RoundLike said: “You have a duty of care to provide the public with as much information as you can to enable us to make our own decisions regarding risk. 

“Treating us as children and sticking your departmental head in the sand will not make it go away – quite the opposite.” 

They also suggested the move was proof officials are struggling with the outbreak and questioned how the department would handle coronavirus if it multiplied massively. 

“What happens when it’s 300 or 3,000 new cases per week?” they asked. 

They said “trust in the Government” was fast fading. 

And one particularly annoyed woman with the handle @EDSAmanda wrote: “Very kind! Us vulnerable and immune suppressed will have no idea if it’s in our are or not.” 

She suggested the Prime Minister call for all schools to be shut and public events to be rolled back “seeing as you’re hiding important information.” 

Others said the department’s decision to withhold the locations of new patients for seven days amounted to “censorship”. 

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One man with the handle @CJ8867 fumed: “This isn’t China. We should be updated every single day about new cases!” 

He added: “This is a disgrace.” 

Another person (@SakuraAbarai) backed him up, saying: “Once a week? Sorry, I didn’t realise I was living in some dictatorial country where information censorship happened!” 

And a woman tweeting under the handle @AstraLyne_x said: “111 only listen if you know if you have been in contact with someone who tested positive. 

“How… are we meant to know this if we don’t know locations of positive test results? 

“You are intentionally keeping the public in the dark which is creating more panic.” 

On Tuesday Boris Johnson outlined his battle plan to tackle the spread of coronavirus in the UK. 

Recently retired medical professional could be called upon to help hospitals cope. 

And soldiers could also be drafted in to maintain law and order if police are overwhelmed by the crisis. 

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