Coronavirus outbreak could last a year, officials say

British officials are preparing for the coronavirus outbreak to last for as long as 12 months as Europe pulls down the shutters.

Pope Francis blesses an empty St Peter’s Square at the Vatican as his Angelus prayer is live-streamed at the weekend. Picture: AFP

British officials are preparing for the coronavirus outbreak to last for as long as 12 months as Europe pulls down the shutters and bustling cities resemble ghost towns.

The extent of the disruption looks to go beyond the coming peak months as Public Health Eng­land says Britain will face nearly eight million people being hospitalised into early next year, internal government health docu­ments reveal.

“As many as 80 per cent of the population are expected to be ­infected with COVID-19 in the next 12 months, and up to 15 per cent (7.9 million people) may ­require hospitalisation,” says the document distributed to senior National Health Service executives, The Guardian reported.

PHE deputy director Susan Hopkins said the body had used reasonable worst-case scenario figures to restate the importance for people with symptoms staying at home, including healthcare workers, in order to reduce the spread of the virus.

As Britain tries to “flatten the curve’’, warning of imminent four-month isolation periods for all people aged over 70 so that the NHS — which has just 5000 ventilators — can cope, other European countries have taken drastic measures. Usually busy weekend tourist hotspots were emptied, and community gatherings, including sports events and community fun runs, were cancelled as the number as coronavirus infections soared across the continent.

Germany, Serbia, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Portugal and Poland shut their borders on Sunday, adding to the restrictions around Italy, Spain and Denmark.

Aggressive anti-coronavirus moves by some governments such as Slovakia and The Netherlands, have shut all stores except those supplying essential food and medical services and imposed ­social distancing rules.

The French were told they had to take the measures seriously as closures struck at the heart of French life: bars and cafes and public transport were limited. Only essential services such as food suppliers, banks and petrol stations remained open.

“The first measures taken to limit gatherings have been imperfectly applied,” French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said. “I say it with all seriousness: together we must show more discipline in implementing these measures.”

In Ireland, officials pleaded with St Patrick’s Day revellers to stay home. All pubs have been ­ordered shut.

Spain has imposed Italian-like restrictions, telling its citizens to stay indoors. On Sunday in Madrid and Barcelona, the only activity on normally packed streets was long queues outside food stores, everyone a metre apart.

The Vatican said in his prayer at St Mary Major Basilica on Sunday, the Pope “invoked the end of the pandemia that has stricken Italy and the world, implored healing for the sick (and) recalled the many victims of these days”.