British Prime Minister Boris Johnson stepped up the response to the novel coronavirus outbreak, moving to the so called “delay phase” which includes the option of more stringent measures designed to slow down the spread of the virus, Reuters reported.

At a meeting of Britain's emergency committee, known as COBR, Johnson decided to move to the so called “delay phase” from the “contain phase”.

“We are now getting onto the next phase,” Johnson said. “This is now not just an attempt to contain the disease as far as possible but to delay its spread.”

He said those showing symptoms of having the virus should self-isolate for at least a week.

The British plan for dealing with the outbreak has three main phases — containment, delay and mitigation.