Coronavirus cases in the UK have risen to 1,950 in the past week, forcing Prime Minister Boris Johnson to urge citizens to start working from home and adopt social distancing measures to avoid contagion. Despite advice to stay away from large gatherings and avoid going to pubs, clubs and restaurants, many Britons have continued to swarm bars during the week. TalkRADIO presenter Jamie East, who was diagnosed with COVID-19 earlier this month, hit out at people underestimating the impact the disease can have on the body as he revealed to feeling “terrified” by the experience.

Asked whether COVID-19 was the worst illness he ever experienced, Mr East told colleague Dan Wootton: “Yes, 100 percent, yes.

“I can’t stress this enough. I think a lot of people think it’s like this exciting spring break – everyone is getting a bit of time off work, they’ll get a bit of a cold and can just sit in the garden.

“It’s just not like that. It’s really, really bad. Before falling in I ran a half marathon, it’s the fittest I’ve ever been and this just knocked me sideways.”

Mr East continued: “It’s been absolutely horrific, I have to say. It’s been terrifying, I just couldn’t move.

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“For five days I’ve just been on the sofa at home and just not been able to move, slept 23 hours of the day. It’s the fatigue that really hits you.

“I think everyone thinks it’s a bad cold, a bad flu. It feels like being hit by a truck.”

The coronavirus crisis is now expected to last until spring 2021, according to a leaked document from Public Health England (PHE).

PHE now fears that 80 percent of the population are likely to be infected in the next 12 months with up to 7.9 million going to hospital.

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Pensioners aged over 70 have been urged to practice social distancing and stay at home as much as possible.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak on Tuesday unveiled a £330billion bailout for businesses in a move to drastic “wartime” measures to fight the coronavirus crisis.

With the number of confirmed deaths from the illness surging by 19 to 67, the Chancellor set out an “unprecedented package” of emergency loans for struggling firms.

Vowing to do “whatever it takes” to protect the economy, he said: “We have never, in peacetime, faced an economic fight like this one.”

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Mr Sunak unveiled his colossal barrage of financial support – equivalent to 15 percent of the UK GDP – as Boris Johnson admitted the crisis demanded steps that are “unprecedented since World War Two.”

The Prime Minister indicated that further sweeping emergency measures will be announced in the coming days.

Mr Johnson said: “We must act like any wartime government and do whatever it takes to support our economy.”

“I stress that although the measures announced are already extreme, we may well have to go further and faster in the coming days to protect lives and the NHS.”

He added: “This enemy can be deadly, but it is also beatable.”

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