Chris Whitty has symptoms

Oh no. They say men are affected worse. Time will tell whether the lady who stands at the lectern with them will catch it too?

Noooooo!
I liked him!
It does sound extremely catching, should we all prepare to succumb?

I was thinking earlier, I hope the experts don't succumb!

I think it is assumed that possibly as many as 80% of us will get it, but as the symptoms are so mild for the vast majority of people, a lot of people won’t be aware.

That is the problem with trying to ascertain accurate figures.

Isn't it ironic, a few days ago they were telling us how to self-isolate to keep safe; now Boris, Matt Hancock and Chris Whitty all have it (not to mention Prince Charles). Just shows that anyone can get it. If this outbreak was a film, we'd all be saying "As if that would happen, too far fetched" it really is hard to believe.

They didn't heed their own advice and were standing too close together at the start of these broadcasts.

They were probably infected about 14 days ago. That's why we should brace ourselves for a steep rise of cases and deaths over the next few days. Goodness knows how many people they've infected before they knew they were infected themselves.

Unfortunately, there are likely to be hundreds of thousands of unnecessary deaths.

It does seem very infectious which is why it's so worrying seeing people still crammed into tube trains. I said several weeks ago I thought everyone would get it apart from those who are isolated. This makes me very anxious, especially as we've seen several young healthy people dying. Our children and grandchildren are going to be playing the virus roulette wheel before too long.

Poor Chris Whitty. He seems such a nice man. I know. I'm being silly. I expect they've all been at long meetings together. I wonder who'll be next?

By today, there had been 689 Coronavirus-related deaths in the UK. We are following a steeper curve than Italy, who now have nearly 1000 deaths a day.

I think it's going to be more of a case of who "won't" get it, which is why people need to stop making excuses and stay at home.

Correction: 759 deaths in the UK.

I don't see how anyone can work at the cutting edge of this situation and keep a distance from everyone else. Added to which I expect they are working round the clock, like the hospitals. And they don't have protective clothing.

All the more reason why testing is vital.

Testing is helpful to clarify if people are fit for work but they are only valid for the day of the test. Someone can be clear one day but ill the next. It's helpful to know if someone's had it and recovered but it's still unclear whether it's possible to be reinfected.
Epidemiologists need numbers for their predictive algorithms but tests are only tests not cures.

Well said Jane.....it doesn’t seem to be understood by some.

Predictive algorithms are what will be used to control this pandemic; surely they need to find any pattern that's forming. Which is why the WHO said test test test but this government ignored it till now.

All three of them, you couldn't make it up could you? Interestingly, Nadine Dorries is to do with the health department too, and was probably meeting with them all before she got sick. I wonder if all three of them caught it from her? They can't have caught it from each other as they got sick at the same time, so they must have had a common source on the same day.

Curlywhirly, you said it for me

Boris et al telling us to social distance, isolate.. (where does the self come in?)

and was he? were they? like as heck not! or else how did they get it.

and what exactly is MILD symptons...

and can we get it from deliveries, ie. cardboard! just asking!
want to add a "lol" but it ain`t really funny!

The lady that stands with them is now becoming the new national treasure.( I read this) she makes a lot of sense and doesn’t scare just tells the facts and does give hope to me especially when she talks.

Get better soon guys because I can’t bear Michael Gove’s smug self satisfaction for very long!!

Morning all, hope you are all keeping safe.
Does anyone else feel so sad when the latest daily deaths total is announced? It’s just numbers but... each and every one of those numbers represent the loss of a family member. Another family torn apart by this dreadful virus. Heartbreaking.?

Jenny Harries deputy Chief Medical Officer is brilliant, very clear and whist telling things as they are does indeed give me hope.

Agree with you the death numbers are tragic, individual lives cut short.