Coronavirus cases in the UK have today rocketed to 273 in the biggest increase yet after ministers warned 100,000 Brits could die from the deadly bug.
Medical experts are now expected to recommend the government move into its second “delay” phase in a desperate attempt to stop the killer virus.
The Department of Health and Social Care today confirmed 273 people had tested positive with coronavirus – up from 209 yesterday.
The jump of 64 cases comes after the “worst case scenario” of 100,000 deaths were revealed by the Sunday Times overnight.
One official who has been involved in the planning said: “The central estimate of deaths is about 100,000.
“Everyone has been focusing on the worst case but this is what the experts actually expect to happen. Some of those people would have died of other flus.”
The death toll remains at two after two elderly patients in Milton Keynes and Berkshire became the first to die from the disease in the UK.
Scotland First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who sits on the Cobra committee, today said a 100,000 coronavirus death toll was a “worst case scenario”.
Among the 100,000 are those most likely to die from seasonal flu, which averaged 17,000 over the past five years.
