EVERY lift button, shopping trolley and cafe cup could give Brits coronavirus, infected Health Minister Nadine Dorries warned today.
Speaking days after it was confirmed she has caught the deadly disease, she told the nation that they should “regard everything you touch outside the home as being contaminated”.
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It was revealed she had also transferred the virus to her elderly mum too.
Ms Dorries, 62, wrote in the Sunday Times today: “The elderly are the most at risk and the most vulnerable.
“Regard everything you touch outside the home as being contaminated: every lift button, shopping-trolley handle, wait-button on a zebra crossing — and every cup in a cafe.
“Wash your hands for 20 seconds.
“Carry hand-sanitiser and use it over and over. Resist the urge to hug or shake hands with anyone.”
Her words go a step further than Government advice, which is to wash hands more regularly and stay at home if you have a cough or fever.
The elderly have been advised not to go on cruises too, and schools will be banned from going on trips abroad.
Ministers haven’t said not to shake hands or hug people as part of their guidance.
The news comes as:
- The UK death toll today shot up to 35 and there are now 1,372 positive cases for the disease
- Hancock confirmed that elderly people would be told to stay inside “in weeks” as the crisis continues
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Spain and Italy are on a 15-day lockdown with flights cancelled and tourists told to ‘stay indoors’
- The Health Secretary couldn’t guarantee that everyone who needs a ventilator will get one – as the PM asked Rolls Royce and JCB to build more
- The Queen has quit Buckingham Palace over coronavirus and has been whisked off to Windsor castle
- Pubs and restaurants could be shut like in Italy to stop the spread, as Matt Hancock refused to rule out extreme measures
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Hotels will be turned into hospitals and operating theatres packed with beds
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Families will be told to self-isolate together if just ONE shows symptoms
Ms Dorries, who fell ill over a week ago, has had a cough, fever and sweats, and said her whole body ached with the illness.
She had not been abroad to an affected country – and did not have contact with someone who had been confirmed to have had it.
She added: “The majority of people will be infected with Covid-19, but they will recover without experiencing significant discomfort.
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“Some people may catch it and not even know they have it.”
The minister said she understood how much “the public are scared” about the outbreak after seeing it first hand.
Last week her office in Parliament was locked down, and other MPs were advised to self-isolate at home as a precaution in case they had picked it up.
Westminster is open for the meantime but will close to some visitors from Monday.
