Coronavirus 'super-spreader' Steve Walsh speaks for first time and says he has 'fully recovered'

Coronavirus “super spreader” Steve Walsh, who is feared to have infected at least 11 other people, told today how he is "fully recovered" from the virus.

Mr Walsh, 53, a Scout leader, is thought to have passed on the virus after a business trip in Singapore, stopping off at a chalet in France on his way back to Britain.

As health chiefs raced to trace people who had come into contact with four new cases of the infection , all believed to be linked to Mr Walsh, he issued a statement from hospital, telling how he had shown no symptoms before seeking treatment.

“I would like to thank the NHS for their help and care — whilst I have fully recovered, my thoughts are with others who have contracted coronavirus,” he said.

Mr Walsh is believed to have caught the virus in Singapore

“As soon as I knew I had been exposed to a confirmed case of coronavirus I contacted my GP, NHS 111 and Public Health England.

“I was advised to attend an isolated room at hospital, despite showing no symptoms, and subsequently self-isolated at home as instructed.

“When the diagnosis was confirmed I was sent to an isolation unit in hospital, where I remain, and, as a precaution, my family was also asked to isolate themselves.”

Mr Walsh, who has recovered from the virus in five days at St Thomas’ hospital in central London, apparently contracted the potentially fatal virus at a conference in Singapore two weeks ago.

The father-of-two then travelled to Les Contamines-Montjoie, in France, for a ski break at a chalet owned by friends Bob Saynor and his wife Catriona.

Eleven people are believed to have been exposed to the virus there, including the Saynors and their nine-year-old son.

Mr Walsh is then understood to have returned from Geneva to Gatwick on an easyJet plane before going to his local pub, The Grenadier in Hove, and a group yoga session in a church hall.

He then appears to have been informed that he had come into contact with someone who had coronavirus and sought medical advice.

Coronavirus - In pictures

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An assistant cub scout leader at the 3rd Hove St Leonards Scout Group, he works as head of project management for gas analytics company Servomex.

A spokesman for the firm said: “We are very pleased that Steve Walsh has made a full recovery. We continue to provide support to him and his family.”

A statement from the Scout Association added: “We are aware that Steve Walsh from the Brighton area who volunteers with the Scout Movement is suffering from coronavirus. He contracted the virus while out of the UK.

“This volunteer has not been to any Scout meetings since his return to the UK. We wish Steve well and hope he recovers soon.”

A man in protective clothing cleaning the County Oak Medical Centre GP practice
PA

Six of the Britons who came into contact with him are being treated in France and Spain, but the other five, including at least one GP, returned to the UK and the Brighton area was today at the centre of efforts to stop the infection spreading .

Today Bevendean Primary School in Brighton told parents they could keep their children at home as it revealed a staff member, believed to be a teacher, may have been at risk of getting coronavirus.

One of the four new cases is thought to be Mr Saynor’s wife Dr Catriona Greenwood, who is believed to have worked as a locum at the County Oak Medical Centre in Brighton which was temporarily closed yesterday to be disinfected .

The doctor and another health worker infected are understood to have only been in close contact with fewer than a dozen patients.

Patcham Nursing Home in Brighton also closed its doors to visitors as a precaution amid concerns that a GP with coronavirus visited one of its 24 elderly residents last week.

Health chiefs are battling to delay coronavirus getting a hold in Britain until at least the spring. They believe warmer weather will make it harder for the infection to spread, as with other viruses like flu.

Officials figures from China said 108 people died from the virus yesterday, a daily record, taking the death toll to 1,016.

But 2,478 new cases were confirmed, down from 3,062 the previous day, bringing the total to 42,638.

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