If the government had done nothing there's little doubt that numbers would have rocketed and the NHS would have been overwhelmed just like Wuhan and northern Italy and more recently parts of Spain.

We know that there's a proportion who remain asymptomatic, possibly a significant majority.

We know a significant number require hospital treatment and a sizeable proportion of those require intensive care.

We know the mortality rate amongst the elderly and vulnerable is very high.

We know that one person infects on average three more.

It doesn't take much to work out how fast this could get out of control without containment action.

Astonishing. Absolutely astonishing. If we'd handled this properly to begin with we would have been doing that all along. 

Vallance says the measures in place should have an impact on the rate of growth of the epidemic.

You would expect the epidemic to come down. Then you can move to a phase where you test and trace.

That I fully appreciate, Michael.  It's a consequence of the government being forced to react rather than being proactive, i.e. Not properly thought through.

Surely it can't be difficult to make a clear statement that nobody will be disadvantaged by the closing of schools and cancellation of GCSE & A-level exams and that arrangements will be put in place with sufficient notice once conditions allow.  

Leaving a void where there needs to be really good communication and reassurance is not clever.

I think you're out by a couple of orders of magnitude. (at least)

The figures from Lombardy were not good today:

• An increase in the number of new infections 


• They hit their ICU capacity of 1006 beds and had to transfer 29 cases to other areas


• They plan to have ~1250 ICUs by the end of the week 


• The Milan numbers were worse: 634 new hospital admissions vs 300 on Wed

The really tragic figures though are more than 3,000 hospital staff infected and 118 of them have already died including 14 doctors. Some of them were retired ICU doctors who answered the call to arms.

The numbers on the governement website have been updated:

It says that 144 have died in the UK and that 3229 have tested positive.

Thats an increase of +603 positive tests

London will not be locked down because of the effect on the value of sterling and the interest charged on government borrowing.

Does that mean the govt are relocating to one of the few remaining cold war bunkers that hasn't been sold off for growing cannabis plants?

It means that journalists will ask questions remotely because the conference itself is a breach of distancing guidelines.

Breaking: +643 New Cases and 144 UK deaths.

Thats an increase of deaths (41) on yesterday.

Can anyone confirm if testing was up or down yesterday.

Is it? We don't see how far apart they sit.

Yes we do , they are actually close to each other ( yesterdays conference ) 

Don't remember that shot.

How many tests were done?

Its showed his ( Boris ) mate Laura and they were all very close to each other 

Not that I'm comparing this to the seasonal flu but the same could be said about it..

Older folk and compromised folk get it worse,  but young healthy adults/ children can and do also die each year.m from it. 

Yes that is known. The concern is that data coming out of the US is tentatively suggesting younger people are more at risk of hospitalisation than was previously thought. 

Impressive numbers and shows the virus is being contained and the voluntary social measures are working

No need to lockdown or force closures

Close up of President @realDonaldTrump notes is seen where he crossed out "Corona" and replaced it with "Chinese" Virus as he speaks with his coronavirus task force today at the White House. #trump #trumpnotes pic.twitter.com/kVw9yrPPeJ

— Jabin Botsford (@jabinbotsford) March 19, 2020

Good luck with that sweetheart

Critical care nurse Dawn has pleaded for the public to "stop it" after being faced with empty supermarket shelves following a 48-hour shift. pic.twitter.com/1sQHM2U5Ba

— BBC Yorkshire (@BBCLookNorth) March 19, 2020