LONDON - People have been told to ‘break unnecessary links’ with those outside their household People should ‘break unnecessary links’ between households to stop coronavirus spreading out of control, Chris Whitty has warned.

He said the virus is being transmitted via household-to-household contact and people need to stop mixing with others as much as possible in their work and social lives. England’s chief medical officer admitted it was the ‘most difficult thing to do’ but is necessary to help the country to avoid the death toll rising again.

Speaking during a televised news conference, Prof Whitty said: ‘We have to break unnecessary links between households because that is the way this virus is transmitted. ‘This means reducing social contacts, whether they are at work… and also in social environments.

‘We have to try and do this in the least damaging way. We all know we cannot do this without some significant downsides. ‘This is a balance of risk between if we don’t do enough, the virus will take off, and at the moment, that is the path that we are clearly on.

If we do not change course then we are going to find ourselves in a very difficult problem.

He said the UK has ‘turned a corner, in a bad way’ in its fight to control the virus and that the ‘seasons are against us.’ There could be up to 50,000 cases and 200 deaths per day by mid October unless more is done to control the spread, the scientific advisers warned. The Government is currently considering whether further restrictions are needed and the idea of a ‘circuit break’ lockdown has been mooted.(FA)