I imagine others in the Cabinet will also come down with it too

I think there will be an element of what you describe above. Trump will also try to deflect as much as possible, the worst the crisis will become, the more he will start blaming everyone else.

So now the heir to the throne and the Prime Minister have it, along with many other public figures. Officially 0.017% of the population have tested positive, or 1 in 5,700. Clearly it must be at least 100 times that figure, if not more?

I hope Sunak doesn't. He is genuinely impressive.

He seems to be well above many of his colleagues.

neil Ferguson potentially.

A very significant global development this. More so if his symptoms become more serious and he requires hospital care. 

Dominic bloody Raab was named designated survivor last week.

To be fair I haven't seen scientists being ridiculed here. Maybe I missed it; do you have examples?

Given the lead times and the well-discussed global sourcing constraints, I doubt that even if the government had started to gear up a month earlier that it would have much difference yet.

No country can put resources in place for a possible pandemic. If for no other reason, you don't know what form of pandemic, how virulent, how serious, what ailments, what complications.  You can't have tens of thousands of intensive care beds unused for most of the time nor anything that has a 'due by' date sitting on the shelves unless you want to keep spending money constantly.

The only real solution is constant, intense vigilance. That's where the WHO and many developed nations put their focus; Trump cut funding for those activities, which was another ignorant, reckless decision.  I won't repeat the list of viruses that have emerged in the last half century but it proves that the risk is always there and, as we are seeing with SARS-Cov-2, fighting a virus once it's started to spread is a real challenge.  This pandemic may seem really bad but it could be a heck of a lot worse: something with higher mortality and transmission rates and a long incubation period, for example.

Thanks for confirming John.

Not sure but IIRC similarly Sophie Trudeau was at some event with both Lewis Hamilton and Idris Elba, the latter of whom tested positive. There seem to be quite a number of celebs getting which could mean a) they are more likely to get it due to meeting more people, b) there are many more positive cases out there than we realize c) they have better access to testing or d) we just remember these cases more. Or some combination of the above. This is why it's so bloody difficult to really understand what's going on...

News from the US looks grim, the Orange One will have to cancel Easter at this rate

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/covid-19-crisis-new-york-hospitals-1.5511026

Many "snowbirds" have recently returned here from the US and the observation of isolation requirements has been patchy too put it mildly. There is definitely a risk that Canada could be in a similar position soon.

Yes.  Statesmanlike.  So out of fashion these days...

i believe Jeremy Hunt reckoned it would be 1 million by the end of this week

Angela Rayner also has suspected coronavirus 

I am now in self isolation as l have the symptoms of #Coronavirus they started last night and have gradually got worse. I will be a bit quieter than usual but will still be keeping in touch with people as best as l can. #KeepSafe everybody and remember #StayHomeSaveLives

— Angela Rayner 🌈 (@AngelaRayner) March 27, 2020

Raab and Mark Francois the last men standing. Red, blue and white blood immune to foreign contagion. 

Here’s wishing Boris a speedy recovery!  Yesterday my daughter said he looked haggered! 

have to agree too... although politically we are at opposite ends, I can always appreciate political skills, abilities and warmth of character in those I disagree with... He has it in bucketloads.. he's also been shaking that magic money tree like there is no tomorrow (and quite rightly so). Makes you realise just how impotent politicians are in the face of global issues like this one...

He seems to have clarity of thought and clarity of message.  How many had heard of him just a few months ago?

This, from the quoted article, sent several shivers down my spine

"Say a 30-, 35-year-old individual comes into the hospital, just had a cough for a week and now they can't breathe, and I have to go up and tell them, 'I probably have to intubate you right now. So talk to whoever you want to talk to because once we sedate you, once we put the tube in, there's no guarantee we can take the tube out,' because we haven't seen anyone so far come out from this."