LONDON 8 Mar (ANA) - The number of coronavirus cases in the UK has soared by 64 bringing the country's total to 273 - health officials have announced today.

The Department of Health and Social Care said more than 23,513 people have now been tested for the virus.

Ministers fear that 100,000 people could die in the UK from the virus, it has emerged today.

And Italy has placed 16 million people in quarantine in the north in a desperate attempt to stop the virus, which has killed 233 people in the country already.

Earlier, two more patients in Wales have tested positive for Covid-19 after recently returning from northern Italy.

Two football teams in Northern Ireland have been told to take precautionary measures after a player tested positive for coronavirus after a match.

Calls to the NHS 111 service have increased by more than a third compared to the same period last year, with 120,000 extra calls in the first week of march.(ANA)

FA/ANA/8 March 2020-----