A SOUTHAMPTON hospital worker has tested positive for the deadly Coronavirus.

The healthcare professional from University Hospital Southampton was confirmed to have the virus after they worked a single nightshift in the hospital’s surgical high dependency unit last Friday.

The surgical high dependency unit is now temporarily closed and the worker is in isolation at home.

Patients and staff who came into close contact with the worker have been informed and will be appropriately isolated.

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A student from Peter Symonds College has also tested positive for Coronavirus.

The hospital reports to be following Public Health England and NHS guidance in respect of the virus and all other services are operating normally.

Patients and staff are advised to attend appointments normally and go to work unless advised not to.

Amongst the outbreak, a Science and Engineering Festival that was planned to take place on Saturday has been postponed.

It was set to be hosted by University of Southampton.

A statement released on their website reads: “It is clear that a growing number of potential attendees are now actively considering not attending due to concerns over large gatherings. Such concerns are likely to increase still further over the coming days, and could have a major impact on the success and enjoyment of the Festival.

“We are very sorry for any inconvenience or disappointment this causes. We’ll be in touch when suitable alternative date(s) have been finalised later in the year.”

Empty shelves were also spotted at Sainsbury’s superstore in Lordshill yesterday afternoon, as many people across superstores in the UK are seen to be panic-buying toilet roll and hand sanitisers.

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Born and raised in Southampton, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that the NHS will get “whatever resources it needs” to cope with a coronavirus epidemic.

Elsewhere in the south, a Bournemouth University student has now tested positive for coronavirus and is in self-isolation.

The person had come into contact with the virus through another individual based in the UK but not at the university.

And after a confirmed case of coronavirus at Andover Leisure Centre, schools across Andover have been sharing advice to parents.

The centre was closed on Sunday and subject to a thorough clean after a man had “briefly attended” on Saturday to collect someone.

The same man later tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) and the facility was closed.

An upcoming Six Nations rugby match which was due to take place on Saturday night has been postponed due to the virus outbreak.

The France vs Ireland game is the second match from this weekend’s final round of the Six Nations to be delayed after Italy vs England was postponed.

However, tournament organisers confirmed that Wales vs Scotland will go ahead and is the only match in the final round of the men’s tournament scheduled to go ahead on Saturday.

At the time of reporting, a total of 24,960 people have been tested for Coronavirus in the UK, with 24,641 negative and 319 positive.

Four patients who tested positive for coronavirus have died.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock told MPs about the confirmed deaths connected to the coronavirus outbreak in the UK.

In a short statement, the Department of Health said: “The patient was being treated at the Royal Wolverhampton Hospital and had underlying health conditions.”

Moving to the next delay stage would mean that social distancing measures - such as restricting public gatherings and more widespread advice to stay at home - could be brought in.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We remain in the contain phase, but it is now accepted that this virus is going to spread in a significant way and that’s why officials have been working at speed on further steps we can take to delay the spread of the virus.”