Battle plan revealed to combat coronavirus outbreak as UK infection toll hits 51

A further 12 people in England tested positive yesterday, in addition to the 39 cases confirmed so far - including two patients from Leeds and one from Bradford.

Officials on Monday said the two from Leeds had become infected while travelling to Iran while the third case, a woman from Ilkley, picked up the virus in Italy.

Government chiefs yesterday set out the UK-wide response into containing the outbreak, delaying its spread and mitigating the impact of the diseases.

It warned the outbreak could lead to a fifth of workers being absent, as well as causing police to drop low-priority cases and force the NHS to delay non-urgent care.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson launched the plan in a press conference at 10 Downing Street and said he had "no doubt at all" that the "country is going to get through coronavirus, and get through it in good shape."

But he stressed it was "highly likely" the number of coronavirus cases in the UK will rise.

He added: "Let me be absolutely clear that for the overwhelming majority of people who contract the virus, this will be a mild disease from which they will speedily and fully recover, as we have already seen.

"But 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, and that's why keeping the country safe is the Government's overriding priority, and our plan means we are committed to doing everything possible, based on the advice of our world-leading scientific experts, to prepare for all eventualities."

The document also emphasised the need for the public to take action, including washing their hands, checking in on relatives and neighbours and accepting that, in most cases, they will be told to stay at home if they have coronavirus.

In a worst case scenario, up to 80 per cent of the population could become infected, with people in hospital with pneumonia and a relatively high death rate among the elderly and frail.

The document set out possible strategies for delaying spread of the virus including school closures, "reducing the number of large-scale gatherings" and encouraging greater home working.

Other measures included the NHS delaying non-urgent care, with staff rostering changes and calling retired staff back to duty and a "distribution strategy" for the UK's stockpiles of key medicines and equipment.

The military could also provide support to emergency services if needed, it said.

The Department of Health and Social Care said later that fire and rescue services would also only focus on their most critical functions if a pandemic was reached.

On travel plans, the chief scientific adviser to the Government Sir Patrick Vallance said: "Once the epidemic is everywhere, then actually restricting travel makes no difference at all."

Government scientific experts predict the UK would see a coronavirus peak two to three months after sustained person to person transmission becomes established across the country.

There will then be a further two to three months of decline, meaning an outbreak could last around four to six months.

Globally, more than 90,000 cases have been confirmed, with more than 3,000 deaths.

Elsewhere, a Leeds-based national charity warned of rising tensions amid the coronavirus outbreak, with incidents of racism particularly directed at the Chinese community.

Stop Hate UK has reported a "deeply concerning" surge in calls to its helpline from members of the Chinese community experiencing racism and verbal abuse.

Ian Davey, director of operations at the charity, said: "We have seen an increase in reports to Stop Hate UK in the past couple of weeks, with links to coronavirus. One where a person was pushed into the road while waiting at a pedestrian crossing, while others have included incidents of spitting and verbal abuse. Reports have also come in from international students and from members of the resident Chinese community."

He urged victims to report all incidents and encouraged local community groups, association and universities - due to international student population - to make clear any abuse on or off campus will not be tolerated.

A statement issued charity added; "Disease does not discriminate; the coronavirus outbreak is not about ethnicity and such associations are neither helpful nor acceptable."