Grammar school pupil with coronavirus is first Brit child to test positive for deadly bug
A GRAMMAR school pupil in South Devon is the first British child to test positive for coronavirus.
Churston Ferrers Grammar School in Torbay today confirmed that the school will close after the pupil reportedly picked up the bug in northern Italy.
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The pupil's age has not been confirmed.
It is the second confirmed coronavirus case in the county, after another Devon resident, who is believed to be a relative, tested positive today.
According to PHE South West, both Devon cases became infected while in northern Italy.
Churston Ferrers Grammar School says it will remain closed tomorrow, with further updates for pupils and parents to follow.
Four more people tested positive for the deadly virus today - with a desperate hunt now on to find hidden spreaders.
A clinician from Mount Vernon Cancer Centre in Northwood, Herts, was wrongly counted as a confirmed case.
It saw the toll for people with coronavirus in the UK rise to 40 before dropping back down to 39 when Public Health England confirmed the clinician tested negative.
The hospital had desperately tried to track down anyone who had come into contact with the clinician, with some members of staff made to self isolate.
But a statement from East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust, later said: "All staff who have been affected and self-isolating will be contacted and given appropriate advice about next steps.
"Our patients at Mount Vernon will be advised of this information and normal service will resume by Wednesday."
The other confirmed patients in the UK, from Hertfordshire and Kent, are believed to have caught the killer virus in Italy.
A member of staff at North East London NHS Foundation Trust's office in Maidstone, Kent, which shares a site with ITV studios, is one of those who tested positive.
Five patients caught coronavirus in the UK rather than contracting it abroad - in a chilling sign the bug is taking hold in Britain.
The group includes three members of the same family who caught the virus from a man in Surrey who tested positive on Friday.
Two are being treated in West Sussex and one in Surrey, with another patient - a man from Essex - also contracted coronavirus in England.
Today, Peartree Spring Primary School in Hertfordshire, confirmed a parent at the school has tested positive for the virus.
But in a text message sent to parents, the school confirmed it would not be closing.
The message read: "We have a confirmed case of coronavirus in a parent.
"We have sought advice from Public Health Hertfordshire and advised not to close the school.
"We are following hygiene procedures. Any concerns dial 111. Further updates will be provided from Public Health England. We are not closing the school."
But nearby residents have expressed concern about the school's decision to stay open.
The homegrown cases are signs the disease could sweep through the nation with affected travellers returning to the UK and spreading COVID-19 without knowing they've been infected.
It comes as...
- Number of Brits with deadly virus jumped from 23 to 39 today
- PHE warns UK will see widespread infection of coronavirus "fairly soon"
- No10 refuses to rule out imposing Wuhan-style lockdowns on cities
- Prince Harry's Invictus Games may be called off due to outbreak
A doctors' surgery in Harpenden, Herts, was also undergoing a deep clean today after a patient was diagnosed with the killer virus.
Davenport House Surgery said all other patients have been contacted and confirmed there is no wider risk.
And a London boys' Catholic school has been closed after a staff member tested positive for coronavirus.
The Wimbledon College employee travelled back from Italy during half-term, with the school now announcing a "deep clean".
The employee is not believed to have had contact with pupils since he was last at the school on February 25.
It comes as a Chinese national who was the first coronavirus patient in London was today released from hospital after getting an Uber to Lewisham A&E when she fell ill.
HUNT FOR SPREADERS
The crisis worsened in Britain over the weekend after the number of positive cases almost tripled in four days.
Health officials are now urgently hunting carriers who are unwittingly spreading the deadly illness because they do not know they have caught it.
There are concerns some patients only have mild symptoms and are unaware they are infected.
Peter Openshaw, a professor of experimental medicine at Imperial College London, said: "This really adds to the supposition that this one is going to be very hard to put back in the box.
"It makes it particularly difficult to control any outbreak if there are people who don’t know they’re spreading it."
LOCKDOWN
The surge comes as the Health Secretary warned entire British cities could be locked down if the virus outbreak escalates.
Other new cases over the weekend were detected in London, West Yorkshire, Bury in Greater Manchester, Hertfordshire and Gloucestershire.
NEW CASES
All of the cases are being investigated and health officials have begun tracing anyone who had close contact with them.
The news comes as Health Secretary Matt Hancock said despite a "huge economic and social downside";, following China's lead and isolating UK cities if the situation worsens remains a possibility.
On isolating entire cities, as Chinese authorities did with Wuhan, Mr Hancock told the BBC's Andrew Marr programme: "There is clearly a huge economic and social downside to that.
"But we don't take anything off the table at this stage because you have to make sure you have all the tools available if that is what is necessary."
The Health Secretary confirmed that banning public gatherings and cancelling football matches were being considered by the government, which closing schools may be "necessary".
CRISIS
Boris Johnson has set up a war room to prevent a coronavirus epidemic in Britain and has ordered a team of scientists and officials to work round-the-clock with public safety the "top priority".
The Government's COBRA emergency committee will meet several times this week as a battle plan is published - with the PM saying today the outbreak is "likely to become more significant" across the UK in the coming days and weeks.
Boris also urged people to wash their hands to the tune of Happy Birthday to help tackle the spread of the disease.
More than 13,000 people in the UK have been tested for the virus so far with an expert warning the disease could kill 100,000 Brits as the spread "continues into the summer".
Professor Paul Hunter, an expert in infectious diseases, told ITV's This Morning: "I’m substantially less optimistic than I was six weeks ago… I think it’s pretty close to inevitable [that we’ll see a global spread]."
The number of people sickened by the virus has climbed to more than 86,000 globally and there have been more than 2,900 deaths, most of them in China.
