Europe
2020.03.12 02:46 GMT+8

COVID-19: How the UK is fighting the virus after record rise in cases

Updated 2020.03.12 02:46 GMT+8
Daniel Harries

A board giving the public information on steps to help the country cope with the Coronavirus outbreak. /Tolga AKMEN / AFP

Following the single largest rise in daily cases, the UK is attempting to stave off the new coronavirus, COVID-19 outbreak, with increased testing and further guidelines for health workers and the public.

On Wednesday, cases in the UK stood at 456, with six deaths – all of which were older people or those with underlying health conditions and occurred in British hospitals.

Public Health England has issued guidelines for the management of those suspected of being infected with COVID-19. The organization has already conducted around 25,000 tests across the UK, and will now ramp up its capacity to 10,000 tests per day, up from 1,500.

The guidelines first seek to identify whether or not the subject requires hospital admission for "clinical or radiological evidence of pneumonia or acute respiratory distress syndrome, or influenza-like illness."

Following that assessment, patients will be separated into two tranches – those who require hospital treatment and those who initially do not.

The former will be isolated at hospital and have further specialist tests from "a local microbiologist, virologist, or infectious diseases physician."

Those who do not require immediate hospitalization will still need further assessments on whether or not they meet "the clinical and epidemiological criteria."

"Clinical" being whether or not the subject has individual symptoms associated with COVID-19: "Acute respiratory infection of any severity, including at least one of shortness of breath, or cough (with or without fever), OR fever with no other symptoms."

While "epidemiological" refers to the physical movement of the subject, whether or not they've traveled to countries with a significant outbreak in the past two weeks or had "contact with a confirmed COVID-19 case."

If neither of these criteria are met, further testing will be undertaken on the patient to determine whether or not they have a different coronavirus or a separate ailment entirely.

Should either of these criteria be met, the patient will be isolated at home, in a "side room along with "their belongings and waste." The subject will then be asked to call the National Health Service (NHS) on 111, where they will be advised to stay at home while transport to a hospital is arranged.

The NHS chief scientific officer, Sue Hill, stated: "The NHS is ramping up the number of testing centers across the country, to help people get care quickly or have their mind put at ease."

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