Coronavirus: Governments urged to 'pull out all the stops' to curb spread

The man, in his 80s, was reportedly being treated for underlying health conditions at Milton Keynes Hospital when he died.

Tests are underway to confirm whether he was suffering from the coronavirus Covid-19 infection.

Other patients on the ward were isolated while a deep clean was carried out, and the staff who had nursed him have also gone into isolation.

Two British Airways baggage handlers based at Heathrow and a child at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool have also tested positive for the coronavirus.

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The Scottish Government confirmed that testing has detected two new cases in Fife, one in Grampian, one in Lothian and one in Forth Valley, bringing the total in Scotland to 11. There are also confirmed cases in Tayside, Greater Glasgow and Clyde, and Ayrshire.

Scotland’s chief medical officer Dr Catherine Calderwood said the country remains in the containment phase, although First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has warned that the number of people suffering from Covid-19 is likely to rise “very rapidly” in the coming days.

It came as WHO director general Tedros Adhanom said there were “encouraging signs” of a slowdown of the virus in South Korea, which has the second highest incidence after China.

The country, which has a population of 51.5 million, has recorded 6284 cases and 42 deaths to date.

Mr Adhanom said: “The number of newly-reported cases [in South Korea] appears to be declining, and the cases that are being reported are being identified primarily from known clusters.

“Although a few countries are reporting large numbers of cases, 115 countries have not reported any cases; 21 countries have reported only one case; and five countries that had reported cases have not reported new cases in the past 14 days.”

However, he stressed that there was no room for complacency.

He said: “This epidemic is a threat for every country, rich and poor. As we have said before, even high-income countries should expect surprises. The solution is aggressive preparedness.

“We’re concerned that some countries have either not taken this seriously enough, or have decided there’s nothing they can do.

“We are concerned that in some countries the level of political commitment and the actions that demonstrate that commitment do not match the level of the threat we all face.

“This is not a drill. This is not the time to give up. This is not a time for excuses. This is a time for pulling out all the stops.”

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Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged an extra £46 million in Government funding for research into coronavirus vaccines and rapid diagnostic tests during a visit to a Bedfordshire laboratory.

He warned that a “substantial period of disruption” was likely as the outbreak escalates.

The UK’s Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, said he does not think a working vaccine will be produced “in time or at scale for this outbreak”

Sir Patrick added: “That said, there have been remarkable changes in the ability to make vaccines, and discover vaccines, just in the last few years, and so things have progressed much more quickly than they would have done in the past.”

It came as Dr Kate Broderick, a Scottish scientist originally from Dunfermline who is leading a team of team of US researchers aiming to fast-track a Covid-19 vaccin, said she was “very excited” by the results so far at her San Diego lab.

“Those results are going to be used as the foundation for taking this vaccine into human clinical testing which we hope to start in April,” she said.

Meanwhile, Public Health England (PHE) issued advice suggesting people may need to stock up on supplies for loved ones in future if social-distancing measures are introduced and more people are told to stay at home.

In blog posts, PHE urged people to “plan ahead”, adding: “This might include helping older relatives and neighbours to get some food in, so that they would have supplies for a week or so if required, ensuring someone would be available to go shopping for them, or arranging for online delivery if they needed it.”

It came as the BBC reported one supermarket executive, speaking anonymously, saying that sales of basics such as pasta and tinned goods had “gone through the roof”.

He added: “While I think people don’t need to panic buy and should just shop normally, I’m not sure the Government can guarantee all food supply in all instances.”

Health Secretary Matt Hancock had earlier said there was “absolutely no need” for individual people “to go round buying more than they need”, saying the Government was in regular contact with the food industry to discuss risks to the supply chain.