Boris Johnson to chair emergency Cobra meeting- first patient reported in Wales

An emergency Cobra meeting of government ministers, to discuss the rapidly escalating global coronavirus crisis, has been called by Boris Johnson for Monday.

This meeting will be the first attended by the prime minister since the virus emerged, with 19 people in the UK having contracted the illness so far.

Asked why the prime minister was taking the chair of Cobra for the first time, a Downing Street spokesman said: "If you look at the increased number of cases on mainland Europe, the prime minister is keen to chair Cobra to be sure that everything that can be done is being done."

The chief medical officer for Wales, Dr Frank Atherton, earlier on Friday, confirmed the first case of coronavirus in the region, revealing that the patient had recently returned to Wales from northern Italy, where the virus was contracted.

Public Health Wales said they were trying to trace people who had been in close contact with a woman who has become the first Welsh person to contract the virus. She had visited northern Italy, Europe’s worst-hit area, where there have been 15 deaths and 650 confirmed cases.

People who sat within two plane rows of the infected person from Northern Ireland on a flight from northern Italy to Dublin have been contacted, health authorities said.

A World Health Organisation (WHO) spokesperson also said that the outbreak is "getting bigger", with the possibility that it will reach further countries, "if not all countries". 

Downing Street offered no explanation as to why the Cobra meeting was not scheduled earlier, however, they did say that during the outbreak there had been one meeting a week led by the health secretary, Matt Hancock.

In addition, there had been daily meetings during the coronavirus outbreak bringing together Public Health England, the Department of Health, the chief medical officer, chief scientific officer and other government departments. Mr Johnson had been kept updated throughout, he said.

The PM visited Kettering Hospital in Northamptonshire on Thursday night in order to consult with senior clinicians on preparations for dealing with possible coronavirus cases.

Mr Johnson joined the night shift and stayed at the hospital from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m., spending time with staff in the accident and emergency department, intensive care unit and paediatrics ward, said Downing Street.

“Staff talked him through the processes in place for if there is a suspected case,” said the spokesperson.

George Osborne, the former Tory chancellor, said the government “now needs to (get) onto a ‘war footing’ with the coronavirus” and hold daily NHS press briefings, regular Cobra sessions chaired by the prime minister and ministers on all major media shows. 

“The public is fearful, wants information and needs to know their leaders have got a grip,” he added.

Labour’s Jonathan Ashworth added: “Our part-time prime minister needs to get a grip of this escalating situation quickly. It shouldn’t take another three days for this meeting to take place.

“People are understandably worried. Boris Johnson should drop his childish ban on ministers appearing on BBC radio programmes. The public deserves to hear what plans are in place to deal with the outbreak.”

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