Another 54 people have tested positive for coronavirus bringing the total number of UK cases to 373.

The Department of Health released updated figures after a man in his early 80s became the sixth person to die in the UK after contracting coronavirus. The elderly man had underlying health conditions and caught the virus in the UK, England’s chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty confirmed.

Northern Ireland confirmed four more cases today, taking the country’s total to 16, while the number of Covid-19 infections in Scotland has risen by four to 27.

Prof Whitty has suggested tighter measures to protect the public, particularly the vulnerable and elderly, could be implemented in the next 10 to 14 days.

Meanwhile, the NHS has removed false Twitter accounts thathave been spreading ‘misleading’ information about the coronavirus outbreak.

Official NHS guidance is also to be displayed at the top ofinternet search results as part of measures to stop the spread ofdisinformation.

As part of a new range of features for internet platforms,the health service said it had worked with Google, Twitter, Facebook andInstagram on ways to help promote ‘good advice’ when people were searchingonline.

For most people, coronavirus causes only mild or moderatesymptoms, such as fever and cough, but for some people such as the elderly orthose with underlying health problems, it can cause more severe illness,including pneumonia.

Prof Whitty said the balance would tip so that more and more people would suffer coronavirus rather than regular seasonal flu or other respiratory infections.

He added: ‘We are expecting the numbers to increaseinitially quite slowly but really quite fast after a while and we have to catchit before the upswing begins.

‘We are now very close to the time, probably within the next10 to 14 days, when the modelling would imply we should move to a situationwhere everybody with even minor respiratory tract infections or a fever shouldbe self-isolating for a period of seven days.’

In other developments on how the virus is behaving, expertshave said people infected with Covid-19 could go five days without showing anysymptoms.

Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School ofPublic Health estimated the average incubation period of the virus to be 5.1days.

Another study found that being older, showing signs ofsepsis and having blood clots were key factors associated with a higher risk ofdeath.

The research, published by The Lancet, examined 191 patientswith confirmed Covid-19 at two hospitals in Wuhan – the epicentre of theoutbreak.

Elsewhere:

• The FCO said US authorities are planning a flight on Tuesday to repatriate British nationals on the Grand Princess cruise ship at the Port of Oakland, California
• The University of Oxford confirmed a second student had tested positive for Covid-19
• Updated guidance for pregnancy advised expectant mothers with suspected or confirmed coronavirus to attend an obstetric unit for birth
• The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said the hours which deliveries can be made to supermarkets and other food retailers will be extended to help the industry respond
• Independent London mayoral candidate Rory Stewart criticised the Government’s ‘half-hearted measures’ in response to the outbreak
• Tedros Ghebreyesus, director of the World Health Organisation (WHO), told reporters the global spread of Covid-19 made a pandemic threat ‘very real’
• Aintree University Hospital said it remained open although a staff member tested positive for Covid-19 after returning from a holiday in Italy
• The France vs Ireland Six Nations rugby match due to be held in Paris on Saturday was postponed on the advice of national authorities
• All St Patrick’s Day parades in the Republic of Ireland are to be cancelled in a bid to stop the spread of Covid-19

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