LONDON (AFP) - The British government was expected on Thursday (March 12) to implement the second phase of its plan to deal with thecoronavirus outbreak, but rejected calls for Parliament to be suspended after an MP tested positive.

The government has so far not moved out of the first "contain" stage of its four-tier plan, revealed on March 3, which focuses on detecting early cases and preventing the disease "taking hold in this country for as long as is reasonably possible".