Fourth Person In The UK Dies After Testing Positive For Coronavirus

A fourth person in the UK has died after testing positive for the Covid-19 coronavirus.

Professor Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer for England, said: "I am very sorry to report that a fourth patient in England who tested positive for COVID-19 has sadly died. I offer my sincere condolences to their family and friends and ask that their privacy is respected.

"The patient, who was being treated at the Royal Wolverhampton Hospital, was in their seventies and had underlying health conditions. It appears the virus was acquired in the UK and full contact tracing has begun."

PA

As of 9am today (Monday), the number of confirmed cases in the UK was 319, with 24,641 people testing negative.

The news comes after the Department of Health and Social Care updated its advice for those travelling back to the UK from Italy.

It asked those arriving in the UK from the following 'lockdown areas' of Italy to self-isolate for 14 days: Lombardy region (which includes the cities of Milan, Bergamo, Como) and the provinces of Modena, Parma, Piacenza, Reggio Emilia and Rimini (all in Emilia Romagna); Pesaro e Urbino (in Marche); Alessandria, Asti, Novara, Verbano-Cusio-Ossola and Vercelli (all in Piemonte); Padova. Treviso and Venice (in Veneto).

Anyone travelling to the UK from any of the above regions must self-isolate with or without symptoms. Anyone arriving from other regions of Italy is asked to self-isolate if they develop flu-like symptoms, however mild.

Anyone feeling unwell is reminded to use the NHS' 111 online coronavirus service and not to go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital.

As of yesterday, the Italian government placed 16 million citizens into quarantine until April, in the hopes of preventing the coronavirus from spreading.

The entire Lombardy region and 14 provinces have gone into lockdown until 3 April, according to Sky News.

Italy is one of the worst European countries to be affected by the virus. The country has now reported a total of 7,375 cases, with a total of 366 people having died from the infection.

It's okay to not panic. LADbible and UNILAD's aim with our campaign, Cutting Through, is to provide our community with facts and stories from the people who are either qualified to comment or have experienced first-hand the situation we're facing. For more information from the World Health Organisation on Coronavirus, click here.

Topics: uk news, coronavirus

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey