up to a fifth of the uk workforce could be off sick at the peak of a coronavirus outbreak. the prime minister unveils the government's emergency plans — saying it is prepared for a spike in cases. i fully understand public concern, your concern, about the global spread of the virus, and it is highly likely that we will see a growing number of uk cases. thousands of people around the world have recovered from the virus — we hear about one woman's time in quarantine. i almost felt like i wanted to go knock on the wall and just talk to the other patient next door. just to have some conversation with a human being.

the head of the swiss fa said coronavirus could shake european football to its foundations after the country cancels games until the end of the month. we'll have full details of the action plan unveiled this morning, and the latest from our health editor. also this lunchtime... on super tuesday, 1a us states are voting for the democratic presidential hopeful who they want to take on donald trump in november's election. benjamin netanyahu claims victory in israel's third general election in a year, but his right—wing bloc appears just short of a governing majority. and the d—day veteran harry billinge, who's raised tens of thousands of pounds for a memorial honouring his fallen comrades, receives an mbe from the queen at buckingham palace. and coming up on bbc news, there will be a successful games, according to international olympic committee president thomas bach after fears the coronavirus

could postpone tokyo 2020. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. up to a fifth of workers may be off sick at the peak of a coronavirus outbreak in the uk — and that could force the nhs to delay non—urgent care. this plan has beenjointly agreed and copies of the plans have been sent to both houses in hard copy. the plan is driven by the sites and guided by the expert recommendations of leaf for uk chief medical officers and the scientific advisory group for emergencies. our plan sets out what we know so far about the

virus and disease that it causes, the long—term planning we have taken to prepare for a pandemic. what actions we have taken so far in response to the current outbreak and crucially they ruled the —— the role of the public can play in supporting oui’ of the public can play in supporting our response now and in the future. mr speaker, the uk is well prepared for infectious disease outbreaks of this kind. the international data continues to indicate that for most people this disease is mild and the vast majority recover in full. we have responded to a wide range of disease outbreaks in the recent past. the nhs has been preparing for a pandemic virus for over a decade. we have world—class expertise to make sense of the emerging data and we have a strong base on which to build. while covid—i9 is a new virus and we have adapted our response to

taking that into account. our plan has a phased response to the outbreak. phase one is to contain. that is the phase we are currently in. contain is about detecting the early cases, following up with close contact, preventing the disease from taking hold in this country for as long as reasonably possible. this approach also buys time for the nhs to ramp up its preparations. if the number of global cases continues to rise especially in europe, the scientific advice is that we may not be able to contain this virus indefinitely. at that point we will activate the delay phase of our plan. delay is about slowing the spread, lowering the peak impact of the disease and pushing it away from the disease and pushing it away from the winter season. we are mindful of scientific advice that reacting to early or overreacting carries its own risks. subject to the primary

goal of keeping people safe, we will seek to minimise the social and economic disruption. mr speaker, the third part of the plan is research. research has been ongoing since we first identified covid—i9 and i pay tribute to the scientists of public health england who are among the first in the world to sequence its genome. research is notjust about developing a vaccine, which we are actively pursuing, and will be many months away at the earliest, research is also about understanding what actions will lessen the impact ofa what actions will lessen the impact of a coronavirus, including what drugs and treatments, existing and new will help those who are already sick. the fourth phase is to mitigate. we will move onto this phaseif mitigate. we will move onto this phase if coronavirus becomes established in the uk population. at that point it will be impossible to prevent widespread transmission. the emphasis will be on caring for those

who are most seriously ill and keeping essential services running ata time keeping essential services running at a time when large parts of the workforce may be off sick. our plans include not just workforce may be off sick. our plans include notjust the most likely case but the reasonable worst case. we will identify and support the most vulnerable. if necessary we will take some of the action set out in today's plan to reduce the impact of absentees and to lessen the impact on our economy and supply chains. we prepare for the worst and work for the best. we commit to ensuring that the agencies responsible for tackling this outbreak are properly resourced, have the people, equipment and medicine they need and that any new laws they need are brought forward as and when required. this is a national effort. we need everyone to listen to and act on the official medical advice. we need employers to prioritise the welfare of their

staff. the single most important thing that everyone can do and i make no apologies for repeating this, mr speaker, is to use tissues when you cough or sneeze and to wash your hands more often. it is in your interest, your family's interest your hands more often. it is in your interest, yourfamily‘s interest and in the national interest. we will get through this, mr speaker, and eve ryo ne get through this, mr speaker, and everyone has a part to play. i commend this statement to the house. jonathan ashwood. can i apologise to you and the house for being a few minutes late. i had a problem with my printer. i thank the secretary of state for the advanced site of the state m e nts state for the advanced site of the statements and the action plan early this morning. can i also put on record my thanks for the briefing the leader of the opposition and myself received yesterday from the chief medical officer and chief scientific adviser as well. i believe the chief medical officer will be briefing parliamentarians

later today and i believe that is a very welcome initiative. the government strategy to contain, delay, research and mitigate as our endorsements, mr speaker. can i ask the secretary of state for some specific clarifications. first on containment and self isolation. the prime minister said today that workers who self—isolate are considered to be on sick leave. can he confirm that those who do need to self—isolate will not therefore need to visit a gp to receive a sick note because of course the government's advice is to not present at the gp. he will also note that 2 million workers on low pay or insecure contracts and the gig economy don't even qualify for statutory sick pay. he will also know that those who are in receipt of benefits are often asked to physically attend appointments. again, if they ask to

self—isolate, can he guarantee that no financial sanction will be imposed? on the issue of sick pay, does he accept that people should not be forced to make a choice between their health and financial hardship? we are told he is considering emergency legislation. will he bring forward legislation to remove these barriers to self isolation so that all workers can get the sick pay that they deserve? this is in the interest of public health. if he brings forward that legislation will help him get it on the statute books quickly. he could do it this week or next week, we will support him. let's give every worker the security that they deserve so they do not have to put their health ahead of their financial interests or vice versa. more broadly on the nhs and social ca re more broadly on the nhs and social

care and the response of the nhs and the support they will be given through the containment and mitigation phase. we know that last week the nhs is short of 100,000 staff and we also know that staff working in the nhs, particularly those on the front line such as gps, need to be protected as well. even if we take at face value the government's insistence that it has provided the nhs with the resources and commitment of the long—term plan, even if we take that at face value, we can surely all accept that covid-19 is value, we can surely all accept that covid—19 is going to lead to increased demand on trust and the wider nhs. every trust that sends a sample for testing is to pay for it to be careered. trusts are likely to ta ke to be careered. trusts are likely to take on more agency staff. if retired staff are asked to return to practice the wage bill will increase. can he just practice the wage bill will

increase. can hejust reassure practice the wage bill will increase. can he just reassure that protection and oversight will be in place for returning staff who we understand will not need to go through a revalidation process for their licence. as we move into the mitigation phase, the government has recognised that nonurgent care may be delayed. i assume that means that trusts will be looking at cancelling elective surgery which will see waiting lists grow and will impact on trust finances. will the government to provide emergency funding increase for the nhs resource budget to support the nhs through this next challenging period? directors through this next challenging period ? directors of through this next challenging period? directors of public health still don't know their public—health allocations for the financial year starting next month. it means that directors of public health could be cutting the workloads they are responsible for commissioning at a time when those very nurses will be needed to deal with covid—19 cases.

can he announce the public health allocations as a matter of urgency. social care, we know that many who are at risk of this virus, the elderly and those with chronic conditions, social care is responsible and has a duty of care to many of the people who are most vulnerable from this outbreak. what advices he got for social care providers and will there be extra resources announced for social care centres. on the emergency powers he has briefed what will he sit down with us and other opposition parties to discuss the content of that legislation. finally, on the global effo rts legislation. finally, on the global efforts to contain the virus, does he —— disease has no borders, we can't build a wall or iron curtain around these islands so why is the government apparently walking away from the eu early warning response system which plays a vital role in pandemic response system. secondly, to contain the virus internationally those countries with weaker health

systems need to be supported as well otherwise we will not contain the virus. can he update us on what help he is offering the world health organization on that front? mr speaker, this is a serious time and our constituents will be concerned and the money will be frightened. we will raise our concerns responsibly and we continue to work productively with the government because the health and safety of our citizens must always come first. thank you, mr speaker. i must always come first. thank you, mrspeaker. iam must always come first. thank you, mr speaker. i am grateful to the constructive approach set out by the honourable gentleman opposite. i will seek to address all of the questions that he raises. the first point he raises is about statutory sick pay. those who do need to self—isolate for medical reasons to protect others, that counts as being off sick. they do not need to go to

agp off sick. they do not need to go to a gp because there is a seven day allowa nce for a gp because there is a seven day allowance for self declaration. i hope that addresses that point directly. and we keep all matters on this under review because broadly i agree with him on the principle that he has set out. on the nhs, he asked about resources, we have already increased resources to the nhs and i stand ready to do so if that is necessary. he asks about doctors and revalidation. in legislation we are proposing to make revalidation simpler. we will bring forward those measures and indeed of course engage with the opposition on the potential measures as and when that is necessary. one public health allocation, we have already been clear that the public health grounds in aggregate is going up and as my

right honourable friend the community secretary sets out last week, we have seen a 4.4% real terms increase in local authority budgets this year and of course the social ca re this year and of course the social care budget is going up by £1 billion. i think that takes into account the issues that he raised. he also raised engagement with the world health organization we have supported the world health organization with extra funding. in terms of engagement with the eu i have regular engagements with collea g u es have regular engagements with colleagues across europe and some of the reports i have seen in the newspaper are not accurate because the questions of engagement are a matter for negotiations as set out on thursday in the negotiations document. i'd like to commend the health secretary with the, he is dealing with this crisis and the very clear public messaging. he called me last friday to tell me

that there had been a coronavirus outbreak in my constituency and i would like to thank the staff at the haslemere health centre for their extraordinary commitment in working over the weekend so the health centre could be opened again on monday morning. this does show that some of the people at greatest risk of are front line health workers. one study in china showed that 7% of people who got the virus in wuhan we re people who got the virus in wuhan were health workers. can he confirm that they will have enough facemasks, hand gel and the gloves and any other measures he is taking to make sure nhs staff are kept safe. my right honourable friend raises an incredibly important point and the answer is yes. we are putting out further advice and guidance to the health system, to the nhs, to gps and hospitals today.

on the point about the kits needed to keep workers safe, yes, we are putting in place the actions to ensure that is available at the right moment when it is needed. there are some gp surgeries that do not have that equipment yet but we are putting in place the actions to make sure they have it as and when it is needed. as he knows, the number of cases right now is relatively small. it is 51 as of 9am this morning. the protective equipment is there so that for each of these cases we can get right onto them. if it becomes more widespread and of course more and more nhs settings right across the countries will need that equipment. settings right across the countries will need that equipmentlj settings right across the countries will need that equipment. i welcome the plan. i have to say i would have welcomed receiving the briefing that

the shadow secretary of state mentioned yesterday which i did not receive. this does lay out a reasonable worst—case scenario and is very clear about the three time phases because of course research is ongoing. it helps prepare the public for decisions that may have to be made down the line. at the moment in containment it is based on self isolation, cases contact and those who have travelled to affected areas. but it is becoming more difficult to define risk areas. with regards to north italy, the chief medical officers talked about those with underlying conditions perhaps not travelling. and the government what would be acceptable reasons to cancel a holiday getting money back from insurance. there are staff who

have no sick pay in their contract so there has to be some protection given to them and by the secretary of state refers to the seven day self certification, isolation is for 14 self certification, isolation is for 1a days and we do not want people turning up to a gp surgery halfway through that period. can that be looked at? one of the issues i have come across as when an employer has told a member of staff that when they return from holiday in tenerife they return from holiday in tenerife they should not come to work for two weeks but the employer does not wish to pay them. we need to look at that. even if it is not health advice but the employer stipulation of expecting people to have no income. as we move into delay we say that children are not particularly catching this but i was with other coronaviruses they may well spread it. i wonder if we have evidence to how much they contribute to transmission because that will affect decisions around school closures. and what preparations are

being made for the long haul? if we look at previous corona outbreaks they have not just look at previous corona outbreaks they have notjust been over a few months they have often been over a year or so. we could be dealing with this next winter. if we move into mitigation and it reverses and it is about protecting the vulnerable, this may require the changing of staff from hospitals and care homes to work in the community. there the government in negotiations about legal responsibility and liability. secretary of state rightly talks but what the public should be doing. should we already be thinking about stopping shaking hands. should we be thinking about working from home if we can without an economic impact? this would help the climate emergency as well as this. as containment moves on to lead the late without border should be thinking about trying to get ahead of the curve? thank you very much

indeed. mr speaker, we have been briefing colleagues as much as possible. clearly the cmo is ——' time is very valuable at the moment. we did work with the scottish government with this plan and it was signed off by the health minister for scotland and cmo of scotland. it isa for scotland and cmo of scotland. it is a plan that has been developed with the scottish government and welsh government and the government of northern ireland. so it is ultimately a multiparty plan. she makes a point about seven—day certification, that is indeed the sort of reason we are holding this area under review and the work is ongoing, including on the point is that she also raises the point about shaking hands. the medical advice and shaking hands is that the impact of shaking hands is negligible. what really matters is washing hands. our

public health advice will remain clear and based on that science which is what matters more than anything else is that people wash their hands for 20 seconds or more using soap and preferably hot water. that the —— that is the core of the public health advice. there is including pulsing point about timing. there are actions that we may need to take in the future which is not appropriate to take now. we're not advising people that they need to work from home now but we don't rule out doing in the future when that might be more effective clinically given the disruption it could cause. i'm expecting to run this for around one hour so let's help each other. with regards to the coronavirus and the impact it can have he is quite right to balance

health and the economy. i welcome his caution in regard to this. one thing i would like to raises the point about small businesses. with this does become a bigger, more significant problem, does heath foresee a point where for good businesses they may need an emergency loan, is that something the government would consider? if not what he asked the other departments to see that's something they would consider? of course we are considering that and it is being led by the business department in conjunction with the treasury and the chancellor is making a statement today ahead of his budget on the 11th. the secretary of state will know that there is a system where those who are immunosuppressed are not required to sit in a crowded waiting room if they have to be in hospital or at a&e. that is in normal conditions never mind the covid-19 normal conditions never mind the covid—19 conditions. last evening i

attended a hospital with a patient who had just finished their first round of chemo. she was told by the receptionist to sit in a very crowded waiting room where there was a five—hour wait and she was told thatis a five—hour wait and she was told that is where she would have to be because there was nowhere else for her to go. i stood in a corridor between the front door and some sliding doors to ensure that she didn't have to be subject to that. my didn't have to be subject to that. my question to the secretary of state is how he is going to ensure that those front line staff, not necessarily clinicians, but how they understand the difficulty and increased danger but also does each hospital have a place where they can wait safely? the answer is that yes, each anc has a pod in front of it

which we have funded since the outbreak of this virus. —— each a&e has a pod. contingency planning includes steps to secure additional capacity in private hospitals which would often lend themselves better to isolation of infectious patients? of course the question of how we deliver and who delivers nhs services as a matter for the nhs. making sure that we use all of the health facilities available is something that is of course the nhs is considering. does the secretary of state agree with me that for isolation to work whatever an individual‘s circumstances they have to be not out of pockets for doing the right thing and that there are

currently millions of people who would be out of pocket for doing the right thing. does he therefore agreed that solving this problem and giving people the confidence that they have to do the right thing and self—isolate is one of the most important things that he can do in the next few days to make sure we can continue with containment? there area can continue with containment? there are a huge amount of things we need to do the next few days and as i said this area is under review. across government in different departments there are many people with health care experience and professionalism, what conversations is my right honourable friend having with other secretaries of state to understand whether they can be access to those individuals so that they too can be on the front line? that is absolutely something we are

willing to look at. i asked the secretary of state last week about the preparedness of 111. at the moment they said they don't have the numbers for current staff and i understand that dudley call centre alone is trying to recruit 150 new call handlers. could he say what is the number of call handlers he is looking for in addition to the current levels and when would he expect for them to be fully trained in online? we have increased in number by 500 already and we have plans for more to come as and when thatis plans for more to come as and when that is necessary. increasing numbers of people are self isolating but they still require routine care. ourgps but they still require routine care. our gps providing this routine care and can secretary of state say what advice has been given to gps about wearing a mask or visiting people a time? the answer to the question is

that we don't want people who suspect they may have coronavirus to go to their gp. we want them to do this by 111. they can in addition to my answer previously on the point about being able to self validate in terms of syncope, for seven days you can of course do that by phone and getan e—mail can of course do that by phone and get an e—mail confirmation for the 14 get an e—mail confirmation for the 1a days. of course, as well as tackling coronavirus the nhs must do business as usual. we are rolling out the increase and what you can do over the phone and over skype and other ways of telemedicine. they can be increasingly important when there isa be increasingly important when there is a widespread concern about communicable diseases. in the secretary of state tell us what steps he is taking to ensure continuity of social care given the

workforce problems and implications arising from this? we have a huge amount of work under way including looking at what we can do to make sure people can get support in care homes and also notjust about the staff but some of those who are most vulnerable to this disease are the elderly in care homes. making sure that the care home element of our plan is incredibly important and we will be coming up with more details in the coming days. it is very important that the resolution and management of this crisis is based on the best possible science and i join the secretary of state was my tribute to the uk scientists who are amongst the most experienced and best qualified in the world. can i ask him have uk scientists been part of the who teams that have been deployed to iran and china? as the

government chief scientist been a member of the cobra meetings and can he update me on the question i wrote to him on thursday about when we can expect a bedside test to be deployed in this country and made available around the world ? of course we are involved in the who missions and in some direct bilateral missions. i have repeatedly signed off support for more uk experts to go out around the world. the chief scientific adviser is of course at all of the cobra meeting is on this, whether chaired by me or the prime minister and his point on the bedside test is incredibly important. we are currently engaged with just over a dozen companies to try to come up with a bedside test, so instead of taking a swab from the back of the throat,