Verdicts of experts on UK government's new coronavirus measures

Medical and scientific experts react to Boris Johnson's press conference as the UK moves into the delay phase

Prof Deenan Pillay, professor of virology, University College London

The ways these measures are developed and issued will be balancing the urgency of trying to flatten the curve of the peak versus activities that are sustainable and realistic. The purpose of staying at home for seven days if you have a new continuous cough or a high temperature is to blunt the number of people contributing to ongoing transmission, and that is a very important step. It will help reduce deaths, but also reduce the number of people who are admitted to hospital and intensive care. From the situation in Italy, we can see that intensive care is one of the services that will soon become overwhelmed.