A further three patients in England have tested positive for coronavirus, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the UK to 23.

Two of the patients had recently travelled back from Italy while the other had returned from Asia, Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty said.

The three cases - one in Gloucestershire, one in Hertfordshire and another in Berkshire - are being investigated and any individuals who had contact with the patients are now being traced.

More than 10,000 people in the UK have been tested for the virus, also known as Covid-19 - with 23 confirmed as positive.

It comes as health officials continue to trace a patient who became the first to catch the illness within the UK.

It was not clear if the patient had contracted the virus "directly or indirectly" from somebody who had recently travelled abroad, Prof Whitty said.