Situation in the UK
Four patients in England have tested positive for coronavirus. Chief Medical Officer for England Professor Chris Whitty, has shared a statement. If more cases are confirmed in the UK, it will be announced as soon as possible by the Chief Medical Officer of the affected country.
Based on the World Health Organization’s declaration that this is a public health emergency of international concern, the UK Chief Medical Officers have raised the risk to the public from low to moderate. This permits the government to plan for all eventualities. The risk to individuals remains low.
Based on the scientific advice of SAGE the UK Chief Medical Officers are advising anyone who has travelled to the UK from mainland China, Thailand, Japan, Republic of Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia or Macau in the last 14 days and is experiencing cough or fever or shortness of breath, to stay indoors and call NHS 111, even if symptoms are mild.
These areas have been identified because of the volume of air travel from affected areas, understanding of other travel routes and number of reported cases. This list will be kept under review. Our advice for travellers from Wuhan and Hubei Province remains unchanged from the below.
As of 9:00am 09 February, a total of 795 people have been tested, of which 791 were confirmed negative and 4 positive.
We have been working in close collaboration with international colleagues and the World Health Organization to monitor the situation in China and around the world. The Department of Health and Social Care will be publishing updated data on this page on a daily basis at 2pm until further notice. (www.gov.uk/guidance/wuhan-novel-coronavirus-information-for-the-public)
Supply Chain
As we continue to monitor the developing Coronavirus outbreak in China, we can assure you that we are already taking steps to mitigate any potential impact on our supply chain.
All production apart from essential services had been stopped in the Wuhan area with the intention of restarting after the Chinese Lunar New Year holidays which ended 2nd February; this has been extended pending review by State Authorities. Similar restrictions have been implemented in Shanghai and the Provinces of Zhejiang, Guangdong, Chongqing, Juangsu and Yunnan; more are likely to follow suit.
Due to the degree of uncertainty in global commodity markets Blends had already contracted for and physically brought materials sourced from China into the UK; this was done well before the Coronavirus outbreak. This secured volume will cover our contracted and repeat customer’s demand levels through the first half of 2020.
In addition to the above assurance Blends has always supported dual approvals for all Chinese manufactured products with approvals from non-Chinese manufacturers. Blends continues to actively work with these approvals to further protect continuity of supply should the Coronavirus outbreak continue for a prolonged period.
We are sure that concerns about the supply chain and demand for alternative sources will apply pressure to the wider supply chain so in order to better support our ability to ensure your individual supply is protected we would encourage you to contact our Sales Teams directly.
Sales