Hundreds of thousands of lives at stake over Coronavirus in Britain, ex-Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt says

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HUNDREDS of thousands of lives could be at stake if Britain can’t contain Coronavirus, the former health secretary admitted today.

Jeremy Hunt said this morning there would be huge social and economic consequences involved if the county was unable to get a grip on the virus.

Jeremy Hunt warned hundreds of lives could be at risk if the virus is not contained

Speaking this morning – as the 17th case of Coronavirus was reported in Britain – the former Tory leadership contender said ministers needed to do more to warn the public about the risks to come and what might happen.

He told Sky News: “Our worst case scenario is 70% becoming affected.

“Theres a massive difference. Hundreds of thousands of lives could depend whether we could keep the infection levels down to 10 per cent, or five per cent.”

Boris Johnson needed to be looking at the “trade offs” involved in shutting schools and cancelling events like in other countries, he said.

He said that Parliament would look “sympathetically” if ministers needed extra powers to force people into quarantine.

But he stressed that most of the public would be willing to cooperate with “sensible measures, even if it is not mandated”.

Mr Hunt, who is now the chair of the Health Select Committee, said: “I think we do need to prepare ourselves for what might happen, even if it’s not our central projection.”