UK isolating elderly in "wartime-style" mobilization effort

PanARMENIAN.Net - People over 70 will be instructed by the British government to stay in strict isolation at home or in care homes for four months, under a "wartime-style" mobilization effort by the United Kingdom likely to be enforced within the next 20 days, The Spectator reports.

It is part of a series of measures being prepared by the prime minister, health secretary, chief medical officer and chief scientific adviser to prevent the health service from "falling over" and to save lives as coronavirus, Covid-19, becomes an epidemic in the UK.

Authorities are reportedly deeply worried that some older people will simply die at home from neglect after they are quarantined, so want to start the quarantine as late as possible – some time within the next five to 20 days.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and health secretary Matt Hancock are counting on neighbours and friends to rally round to make sure no one is neglected. "We are looking for a huge community effort," said a source.

Also, plans are also well under way for doctors to give consultations to patients quarantined at home by video links over the internet.

Most of the confirmed UK cases are in England. There have been 121 confirmed cases in Scotland, 60 in Wales and 34 in Northern Ireland, syas the BBC.

People who are self-isolating with mild symptoms are no longer being tested for the virus. The government said on Friday it estimated the true number of UK cases to be around 5,000 to 10,000.