Coronavirus passed on within UK for first time as 20th case confirmed
A 20th patient in Britain has tested positive for coronavirus in the first transmission within the UK.
Chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty said it was not yet clear if the illness had been passed on from somebody who had recently travelled abroad.
Health officials have begun efforts to trace anyone who may have come into contact with the patient.
Prof Whitty said: "One further patient in England has tested positive for Covid-19.
"The virus was passed on in the UK.
"It is not yet clear whether they contracted it directly or indirectly from an individual who had recently returned from abroad.
"This is being investigated and contact tracing has begun.
"The patient has been transferred to a specialist NHS infection centre at Guy's and St Thomas."
The news comes after a British man became the first UK citizen to die from coronavirus.
The man, who was on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship was the sixth person from the vessel, which has been quarantined off the Japan's coast amid the outbreak, to have died.
