Labour MP Rachael Maskell has become the latest politician to go into self-isolation in the UK. Previously, Nadine Dorries, the Health Minister and MP for Mid Bedfordshire was diagnosed with coronavirus.
The Department of Health said Nadine Dorries first showed symptoms on Thursday – the same day she attended a Downing Street event hosted by the prime minister.
Several reports show that a lax attitude towards coronavirus screening and testing could be the reason for a rise in the number of afflicted in the UK. Multiple travellers from Italy shared their concerns over the lack of any form of screening at Heathrow Airport. Several took to Twitter with statements like “It looks like our government don’t care or have any plan of action to prevent the spread of coronavirus.”
Journalist Federico Gatti tweeted a picture of passport gates at Gatwick with no staff manning them on Sunday 8 March, writing: “Just landed in London from Milan. Zero checks. No info. How can it be possible?”
Just landed in London from Milan. Zero checks. No info. How can it be possible? #COVID2019 pic.twitter.com/4z81iKLtu1
— Federico Gatti (@federicogatti) March 8, 2020
Italy, with more than 10,000 recorded cases, is one of the worst-hit countries by the virus, said to be Europe’s epicentre of the breakout.
As the eighth Briton affected by the coronavirus died this morning, diagnosed cases reached 382 in the UK.
