Via The Guardian: Murder inquiries could be hit if coronavirus reduces UK police numbers. Never mind murders; I'm worried about cops, firefighters, and paramedics contracting COVID-19 from the homeless and overdose cases they deal with every day. Excerpt:
Police investigations into some homicides would be halted and 999 response times extended under contingency plans to help forces cope with a severe coronavirus outbreak, the Guardian has learned.
As the number of confirmed UK cases reached 51, the government warned that up to a fifth of the workforce could be off sick during the peak of a potential epidemic. A raft of measures would be introduced if the virus moved beyond the currently designated “contain phase,” a 28-page action plan warned.
On Tuesday evening, tests on thousands of patients in hospital intensive care units were ordered by NHS England amid concerns that the virus could be spreading undetected among people with respiratory problems.
Twelve more people across England tested positive for coronavirus – the second highest single-day increase in cases to date – with all thought to have contracted it abroad. Eight had recently travelled from Italy, while the others came from Germany, Singapore, Japan and Iran.
Health officials in the Canary Islands also reported the first case of a British national testing positive at a quarantined hotel in Tenerife. In other developments:
• A ninth person with coronavirus died in the Washington state, US, while the global death toll exceeded 3,100 with more than 90,000 people infected in 73 countries and territories.
• UK officials revealed plans for new legislation that could force children and teachers to transfer to alternative schools if their own is shut down.
• If NHS staff numbers are affected, some non-urgent care may be delayed and retired healthcare professionals brought back on duty, the government said.
• Unite, the union, warned that factories could shut down or cut working hours because of shortages of parts from China if the coronavirus crisis worsens.
