UK coronavirus cases shoot to 85 in biggest daily jump

LONDON: The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United Kingdom shot to 85 on Wednesday in the biggest daily jump since it was first detected in the country, according to health ministry statistics.

The number of confirmed cases was 51 on Tuesday. Britain has not recorded any deaths from the disease.

The UK's first two people to be diagnosed with the coronavirus were shifted to a hospital in Newcastle, northeast England on January 31, the health ministry had said.

At that time, the country's chief medical officer had said he would not give the location of the two patients — both from the same family — while medics attempted to contact other people they might have spread the infection to.