Coronavirus: Government pledges £5bn to NHS to tackle rapidly-spreading virus

In a budget revised to reflect the virus’ impact on the country, chancellor of the exchequer Rishi Sunak has said the NHS will be given ‘anything it needs’ to tackle the issue.

The government has pledged a total of £5bn to the health service via an emergency response fund, but more money can be given out if needed.

Currently, 13 people have been diagnosed with coronavirus in Hampshire – though there are no cases in Portsmouth.

Mr Sunak acknowledged the ‘challenging times’ faced by the economy following the Covid-19 outbreak.

He said: ‘I know how worried people are. Worried about their health, the health of their loved ones, their jobs, their income, their businesses, their financial security.

‘People want to know what's happening, and what can be done to fix it.

‘What everyone needs to know is that we are doing everything we can to keep this country, and our people, healthy and financially secure.’

Measures have also been put in place to support businesses as the virus spreads, including allowing companies to defer tax payments to HMRC.

Chief executive of housing association Vivid, Mark Perry, said: ‘Coronavirus was understandably a key focus in the budget.

‘It was encouraging to hear the government is taking action to support the wellbeing of the most vulnerable in society, including temporarily removing the minimum income level for universal credit and providing a £500m hardship fund for local authorities to support people in their communities.’

Tim Walker, managing director of Aura Technology, added: ‘This budget held some much-needed positive news for businesses after the uncertainties over Brexit, a slowing economy and now coronavirus.

‘Measures to help small businesses mitigate the hopefully short-term impact of the virus were welcome, but I was pleased to see this didn’t dominate the agenda.’

Worldwide, 121,734 cases of coronavirus have been recorded at the time of publication, with 4,382 deaths.

A total of 66,943 have recovered from the virus.

An additional £1.4bn has been invested into a science institute in Weybridge, where samples of covid-19 are being analysed in the hope of finding a cure.