U.K. Prepares Emergency Laws and Draws Up Virus Action Plan

(Bloomberg) -- Boris Johnson's government will publish its plan to handle a coronavirus outbreak in the U.K. on Tuesday, as ministers prepare emergency laws to handle the situation.

The action plan was agreed at a meeting of the government's emergency committee led by the prime minister on Monday morning, Johnson's spokesman James Slack told reporters.

The plan will ensure “we are in a position to take the steps necessary to contain the spread of the disease as far as we can, and to protect the most vulnerable,” Johnson said in a pooled TV clip after the meeting.

The government is preparing emergency laws to assist in handling the crisis. These will include relaxing rules around maximum class sizes in schools, in case of a shortage of teachers, and extending the amount of time truckers are allowed to spend on the road to ensure the movement of medicines around the country, a government official said.

The aim is to pass the legislation by the end of March. The timescale for the virus reaching its U.K. peak is months, rather than weeks, the official said. At the moment the government focus is on slowing the process, to prevent a crisis during the colder months, when the National Health Service is at its busiest.

The total number of confirmed cases in the U.K. rose to 40 on Monday, Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said in a statement.

Daily life in the U.K. may change as a result of the government plan, which will “set out to the public some potential changes in relation to everyday things, actions which might have to be taken,” Slack said. It will include “things which we could potentially consider in the event that this outbreak were to spread further,” he told reporters in London.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, who will set out his budget on March 11, has spoken to the Bank of England about the possible economic impact of the virus. “The government stands ready to use all levers at its disposal to ensure that we are as prepared as we can be,” Slack said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Hutton in London at rhutton1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at tross54@bloomberg.net, Thomas Penny

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