SCHOOLS will remain open and the Prime Minister has urged people to “go about their business” after the first case of coronavirus was recorded in Essex.

The total number of UK cases of Covid-19 stands at 36 with 12 people in England and one in Scotland recently testing positive for the virus.

The first case from Essex had “no relevant travel” to affected areas and how they contracted the virus remains unclear.

The patient was identified at Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow at the weekend and has since been transferred to a specialist hospital for treatment.

John Spence, Essex county councillor responsible for public health, said he was “confident” plans are in place to deal with “whatever comes next” in the county.

He said: “It would have been surprising if Essex had remained immune from any cases.

“We’ve had one case and we have 1.5 million people but, of course, we take it seriously.

“Ever since the case was diagnosed on Saturday, public health officials and our colleagues have been contacting the contacts of the patient and if you’ve not been contacted by now you’re not one of them.

“I’m not surprised and of course I am concerned, but I am satisfied the work we’ve been doing continuously over the past month with our colleagues means we have plans ready to deal with whatever comes next.”

Mr Spence said a policy of closing schools to prevent the spread of the virus would be “deeply counter-productive”.

“You then have all challenges then of what happens to the children who otherwise would be in school,” he said.

“In school you can have the discipline of ensuring there is rigorous handwashing at all times.

“If there were to be cases around schools we would have to look at those on a case by case basis.

“At this stage, one needs to stay calm, to recognise for most people this is a mild case of flu and actually our normal flu kills far more people than this should do.”

PM Boris Johnson warned the spread of the virus in the UK is “likely” but he urged people to “go about their business as usual” and insisted a plan had been agreed to tackle the problem.

The EU has raised the coronavirus risk level from moderate to high while Public Health England said widespread transmission of the condition is “highly likely”.

A Colchester Council spokesman said: “We are following the Government guidelines regarding Covid-19 and are constantly reviewing the steps we are taking.

“We would encourage all residents to follow the public health messages around the steps they can take to prevent the spread of this virus.”