Coronavirus: 206 people test positive in UK
More than 200 people have now tested positive for coronavirus in the UK, the Department of Health has said.
In total, 206 people had tested positive for Covid-19 as of 7am on Saturday, an increase of 42 from 164 cases confirmed on Friday.
The Department of Health said more than 21,000 people had been tested for the virus.
UPDATE on coronavirus (#COVID19) testing in the UK:
As of 7am 7 March 2020, a total of 21,460 people have been tested:
21,254 negative.206 positive.
Two patients who tested positive for coronavirus have sadly died.
For latest information:
➡️ https://t.co/e1hwL62CDIpic.twitter.com/PXZwab39uR
— Department of Health and Social Care (@DHSCgovuk) March 7, 2020
The updated figures come as US authorities prepare to respond to a coronavirus-hit cruise ship carrying British passengers off the Californian coast, after 21 people on board tested positive for the illness.
US Vice-President Mike Pence said on Friday that the Grand Princess, carrying more than 3,500 people on board, including 140 Britons, had been directed to a non-commercial port for testing.
Meanwhile in the UK, the public has been told to prepare itself in case “social distancing” policies are needed to help contain the spread of the virus.
On Friday, it was confirmed that a man in his early 80s had become the second person to die in the UK after testing positive for coronavirus.
The man, who had underlying health conditions, died on Thursday while being treated at Milton Keynes University Hospital.
On Thursday evening another patient, reported to be a woman in her 70s, became the first person in the UK to die after being diagnosed with Covid-19 while at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading.
