First case of Coronavirus confirmed in London

The first case of Coronavirus has reportedly been confirmed in London.

According to Financial Times, a woman who picked up the virus in China, was diagnosed in UK’s largest population centre on Wednesday, February 12, 2020.

Reacting to reports of the disease in the United Kindom, the Chief medical officer for England, Professor Chris Whitty said, “One further patient in England has tested positive for novel coronavirus, bringing the total number of cases in the UK to nine.”

Whitty added that “This virus was passed on in China and the patient has now been transferred to a specialist NHS centre at Guy’s and St Thomas’ in London.”

A Senior Research Fellow in Global Health at the University of Southampton, Micheal Head said it was not surprising that the first case of Coronavirus has been seen in London.

He said London “is a city of over 10m people with several major international airports”, adding that the rest of the UK could expect to see more cases.

Since the outbreak of the disease now officially known as Covid-19, more than 1,100 people have died with some 44,000 confirmed to be infected in mainland China.