The Prime Minister confirmed yesterday that the UK will be moving into the ‘delay phase’ of its plan to tackle coronavirus.
As part of this announcement the PM confirmed that, as of today (13 March 2020), those who have flu-like symptoms, however mild, should stay at home for at least 7 days to protect others. He has also suggested that in the next few weeks, the Government will take further steps; one step being that if any one person in a household has cold/flu-like symptoms, however mild, the whole household will be expected to remain at home. The Prime Minister made clear that this measure was not to be introduced yet but would likely be introduced in the coming weeks. For now, the PM confirmed that the Government would not be closing schools as scientific advice is that this may do more harm than good.
Whilst, there is no disputing the health and safety concerns leading to the measures, this will put a strain on many employers as employees may now need to stay at home in more circumstances and, in the future, even when they are fine but a member of their household is unwell.
The PM suggested we are some weeks away from the most dangerous period of the epidemic trajectory, to exemplify matters further it was explained that we are currently approximately 4 weeks behind Italy.