Coronavirus' first UK fatality aged over 70 but CMO warns against isolating old 'from society'

England's Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Professor Chris Whitty has warned against isolating elderly "from society", on the day a woman in her 70s became the first person in the UK to die of the coronavirus.

An elderly woman died at Reading's Royal Berkshire Hospital after being admitted on 4 March and is believed to have caught the coronavirus (known as Covid-19) in the UK.

The Royal Berkshire NHS Trust stated on 5 March that the patient had pre-existing health conditions and been "in and out of hospital for non-coronavirus reasons".

CMO says older people must not be isolated 'from society'

On 5 March, England's CMO Professor Chris Witty told the Health and Social Care committee that when protecting older people from society "the difficulty is we need to make sure we do that without isolating them from society".

He warned against "exacerbating loneliness, providing barriers to social interactions and practical things like shopping and people coming in to help them.

"We're giving a lot of thought to the practical aspects of what we can do to provide a package of support as best we can.

"We would not encourage people to start trying to isolate themselves at the moment, we don't think there's any benefit to that."

Professor Whitty said half of all coronavirus cases in the UK are most likely to occur in just a three-week period.

The CMO added that the UK would be “lucky” to get a vaccine for Covid-19 in the next year.

More than 3,000 people have died worldwide from the coronavirus outbreak which originated from Wuhan in China last December.

Responding to the woman's death in Reading, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said his "sympathies are with the victim and their family".

To read the government's guidance about COVID-19 for care providers click here.

To read the Department of Health and Social Care's action plan click here.

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