People 'should work from home' to tackle coronavirus spread

As UK remains at 'contain' stage, epidemiologist warns of need to reduce infections spike

• Coronavirus - latest updates

People in Britain who can work from home should be advised to do so to reduce their risk of contracting coronavirus and fuelling the outbreak by spreading it to others, a leading researcher has said.

The rising number of infections in the UK made it increasingly likely that the country would see local outbreaks in the coming weeks, with some potentially severe enough to place a strain on the NHS, said William Hanage, an epidemiologist at the Center for Disease Dynamics at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health in Boston.