Coronavirus: Leading doctor reveals the precautions she is taking to protect her children
6 March 2020, 08:19 | Updated: 6 March 2020, 09:27
A leading doctor has told LBC the precautions she is taking to protect her children and elderly relatives from catching coronavirus.
A patient in Reading has become the first person to die in the UK after testing positive for covid-19. The woman in her 70s had underlying health conditions.
The number of cases of coronavirus in the country has doubled in the past 48 hours and the government has unveiled their 'battle plan' to stop the spread of the virus and delay the peak of the epidemic until the summer months when the NHS could cope better.
Nick Ferrari spoke to Dr Helena McKeown, the chair of the representative body at the British Medical Association, and she revealed what she was doing to keep her family healthy.
She said: "My younger teenager is really anxious about this and we've talked about it. We looked together at the government website set up for schoolchildren to reduce their anxiety.
"My children's school has a fingertip ID for reasons of safety for the children and they have taken measures so that the children are washing their hands thoroughly and using hand sanitiser.
"I've checked that my mother and my mother-in-law have plenty of food. I did offer if they'd like to stay with us, but their preference was to stay on their own, so we're making daily telephone calls and ensuring they have plenty of food.
"Personally, I'm fortunate to be in good health, so I'm not worried about my health. Although GPs are very much in the firing line so when I go to work later today, I'm very aware that it is possible that I could catch this illness. However, I'm also aware that it's likely to be mild.
"My son, who is in his early 20s, has asthma, so I've checked with him he's got his spare inhaler, which is good practice, and I've reassured him that we haven't seen very many deaths in anyone in the younger age groups."
Watch her interview at the top of the page.
