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First coronavirus case confirmed in Wales as number of infected in Britain rises to 19

pharmafile | February 28, 2020 | News story | Medical Communications British Coronavirus, Chinese Coronavirus, Wales coronavirus, Wuhan Coronavirus, coronavirus 

A person has been diagnosed with coronavirus in Wales, with the number of infected continuing to rise as numerous sporting teams take extra steps to stop the spread of the virus.

Wales Chief Medical Officer, Dr Frank Atherton, said: “I can confirm that one patient in Wales has tested positive for coronavirus. All appropriate measures to provide care for the individual and to reduce the risk of transmission to others are being taken. I can also confirm that the patient had travelled back to Wales from Northern Italy, where the virus was contracted.

“I’d like to take this opportunity to assure the public that Wales and the whole of the UK is well prepared for these types of incidents. Working with our partners in Wales and the UK, we have implemented our planned response, with robust infection control measures in place to protect the health of the public.”

In the rest of the UK two new cases have been diagnosed in England, with the first case also being found in Northern Ireland.

In terms of sporting events, Britain’s weekend football games are set to go ahead in contrast with many on the continent. However, internally certain football clubs are taking steps to reduced the risk of spreading the virus. London club Arsenal has insisted on all training ground visitors filling out medical forms and told to declare if they had recently attended any risk area countries and whether they were experiencing any symptoms.

Newcastle United have implemented a handshake ban at their training ground. The club has put a stop to a morning ritual of players and staff shaking hands as fears over the spread of the disease increase. Manager Steve Bruce said: “There’s a ritual here that everybody shakes hands with everybody as soon as we see each other every morning – we’ve stopped that on the advice of the doctor. We’re like everybody else. Thankfully, we’ve got a superb doctor here and he will keep us informed of what we have to do.”

In terms of other sporting events, the Six nations game between Ireland and Italy at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin has been cancelled due to coronavirus fears, while last night’s Europa league game between Inter Milan and Ludogorets was played behind closed doors and several Italian league games are being postponed.

Conor Kavanagh

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