Newspaper column 5 March 2020 - Coronavirus update

This week I thought I would talk about the Coronavirus (COVID-19) and the Government’s response to it.

A coronavirus is a type of virus. As a group, coronaviruses are common across the world. Typical symptoms of coronavirus include fever and a cough that may progress to a severe pneumonia causing shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In many ways it is similar to the more common types of flu we see in this country every winter.

Generally, coronavirus can cause more severe symptoms in people with weakened immune systems, older people, and those with long-term conditions like diabetes, cancer and chronic lung disease.

It appears to be a strain of virus that spreads quickly and widely through direct contact. It has now spread globally and in terms of the UK, the Department of Health and Social Care is providing daily figures on how many people have been tested for it in the UK, along with the results.

Globally and at home, the number of cases continues to rise. As of 9am on Tuesday of this week there were 51 confirmed cases in the UK. It is becoming more likely that we will see widespread transmission here in this country.

As the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care said in Parliament on Tuesday, the Government’s approach is to plan for the worst and work for the best.

The Government has a 4-part action plan to contain, delay, research and mitigate the virus.

The international data continue to indicate that for most people, this disease is mild and the vast majority recover in full.

Phase one of the plan is to contain. This is the phase we are currently in. Contain is about detecting the early cases, following up with close contacts, and preventing the disease from taking hold in this country for as long as is reasonably possible. This approach also buys time for our NHS to ramp up its preparations.

If the number of global cases continues to rise ‒ especially in Europe ‒ the scientific advice is that we may not be able to contain this virus indefinitely. At that point we will activate the delay phase of our plan. Delay is about slowing the spread, lowering the peak impact of the disease and pushing it away from the winter season.

The third part of the plan is research. Research is not just about developing a vaccine, which we are actively pursuing, but which will be many months away at the earliest, but also about understanding what actions will lessen the impact of coronavirus including what drugs and treatments – existing and new – will help those who are already sick.

The fourth phase is mitigate. The Government will move on to this phase if coronavirus becomes established in the UK population. At that point, it would be impossible to prevent widespread transmission, so the emphasis will be on caring for those who are most seriously ill and keeping essential services running at a time when large parts of the workforce may be off sick.

I will continue to work with colleagues in Parliament to ensure we are best prepared to tackle this virus, and continue to provide updates, via the online channels available to me, when they become available.