Coronavirus 'worst public health crisis for a generation': Boris Johnson

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday declared coronavirus pandemic as "worst public health crisis for a generation", as he anunced that UK would be moving to next level of its fightback strategy to delay peak of virus outbreak to warmer months.

After he chaired an emergency meeting of Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms (COBRA) at Downing Street in London, Johnson anunced that everyone with flu-like symptoms including a persistent cough or high fever must w self-isolate at home for next seven days.

He said that scientific advice was t to shut down schools at this st because it could do more harm than good, but that decision would remain under constant review.

“This is worst public health crisis for a generation,” said Johnson.

"Some people compare it to seasonal flu, alas that is t right. Owing to lack of immunity, this disease is more dangerous," Johnson said, as he made a direct appeal to older people to take extra care and repeated his plea for thorough hand-washing.

From Friday, all school trips abroad will be banned, and older people and those with pre-existing health conditions have been told t to go on cruises.

Johnson said he wanted to level with country and admitted that many more families are going to lose loved ones before ir time as a result of outbreak.

He said moving from “containment” to “delay” phase of government strategy was based on advice that if peak of disease can be delayed by even a “few weeks”, state-funded National Health Service will be in a stronger position to handle it because of improving wear, more beds will be available and re will be greater time for medical research.

Delaying outbreak's impact could also buy time for testing of drugs and development of vaccines and/or improved rapies or tests to help reduce impact of disease.

“We are w getting onto next phase in that plan because this is w t just an attempt to contain disease as far as possible but to delay spread and reby minimise suffering,” said Johnson.

Under previous strategy of containment, people were told to self-isolate only if y had cough and fever but had also been to an affected country recently, or had contact with someone who had tested positive for virus.

So far in UK, 10 people have died of COVID-19 and re are 596 confirmed cases across country, which government says is likely to furr rise considerably in coming days.

government's chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, said actual number of people infected could be anywhere between 5,000 and 10,000 given nature of pandemic.