20 cases has been confirmed in UK and Health officials are trying to discover how a man from Surrey caught coronavirus, after he became the first person to be infected within the UK.
The man had not been abroad recently – unlike the 19 others who have tested positive in the UK.
Officials are trying to trace people who had contact with him. Haslemere Health Centre, which he had attended, has now reopened after “deep cleaning”.
The government is preparing to publish emergency plans to tackle the virus.
The package of measures within the emergency legislation would be designed to help the public sector – such as the NHS and schools – cope with a serious rise in cases.
There are few details about what the measures could involve – but school class sizes in England is one area which would be addressed. They would be permitted to rise above statutory limits, in the event of widespread teacher absences.
Health minister Edward Argar told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that “any responsible government” would have “contingency planning” in place, but added the government was “entirely focused on making containment work”.
The plans, which are expected to be published next week, “are not needed at the moment,” he added.
On Friday, a British man became the first UK citizen to die from coronavirus after being infected on the Diamond Princess cruise ship quarantined in Japan.