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The UK has reported a total of 90 cases of the coronavirus, with the country's chief medical officer Chris Whitty predicting that an epidemic in the country is now highly likely.
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The latest figures come after UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson released his action plan for dealing with the crisis.
The UK government's action plan has four stages: contain, delay, research, and mitigate. The UK has now entered stage two.
The action plan, released by the UK government on Tuesday, states that: "Action that would be considered could include population distancing strategies (such as school closures, encouraging greater home working, reducing the number of large scale gatherings) to slow the spread of disease throughout the population."
The coronavirus causes a respiratory disease known as COVID-19. More than 3,200 people have died and more than 94,000 others have been infected across the world, about 85% of whom are in China. Cases have been recorded in at least 80 countries.
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The UK is seeing a rising number of cases of "community spread" - those patients had no known exposure to the virus or travel history to countries where outbreaks have been reported.
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Three new cases in Scotland on Thursday brought the total confirmed number of patients to 90.
There are six in Scotland, 80 in England, three in Scotland, one in Wales and three in Northern Ireland.
Professor Chris Whitty, the country's chief medical officer, said it was now "highly likely" that the virus is being spread across the UK by people who haven't travelled.
He said it was inevitable that the number of cases in the UK will rise, and it will almost certainly not be possible to prevent an outbreak.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson says school closures 'don't work as well as people think'
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has sought to play down the threat of the crisis.
"We need to strike a balance," Johnson told ITV's Good Morning programme on Thursday, adding that there was no need to consider school closures at this stage.
"Slightly counter-intuitively, closing schools and stopping big gatherings doesn't work as well as people think," he told the programme.
He added: "As far as possible it should be business as usual for the vast majority of people."
The British government has stopped trying to 'contain' the virus and is now trying to 'delay' it
The government has mostly stopped trying to "contain" the virus and is instead focusing on trying to delay its spread, the chief medical officer said on Thursday.
He said containing the spread of the virus among the early few patients who caught it was now "extraordinar[ily] unlikely" long-term outcome, and said the government was now focused on trying to delay the outbreak until the spring.
Whitty said that approach — which overlaps in many ways with "contain" — had several benefits. Those include delaying the peak until the NHS is in a better position to respond, and buying more time so that the disease can be better managed, possibly with the aid of new drugs.
Additionally, there may be a benefit to delaying the outbreak until the spring or summer, when the rate of infection may go down, as is the case with flu.
What measures are the government considering?
The government's action plan, which was published on Thursday, outlines a number of measures that might be introduced if there is a major outbreak. Ministers will make a decision as to which actions they introduce based on scientific advice, and
As well as potential school closures, these include:
Closure of mass gatherings, such as Royal Ascot and Glastonbury Festival, as well as football matches
The army being drafted in to support the emergency services
Asking employees across the country to work from home, possibly for around 12 weeks
Expanding its public information campaign, which encourages people to wash their hands regularly with warm water.
How is the virus affecting the rest of Europe?
England's Six Nations rugby games against Italy in Rome on 14 and 15 March will likely be postponed as a response to the outbreak.
Italy, where more than 3,000 cases have been reported, has confirmed it will shut all schools from Thursday for 10 days.
All professional sport in Italy will be played behind closed doors for a month.
Switzerland reported its first death from the disease after a 74-year-old woman died in hospital.
UK airline Flybe went into administration, claiming coronavirus was partly to blame.
What advice is the government giving to avoid catching coronavirus?
According to NHS England, the best way to avoid catching or spreading coronavirus is to:
wash your hands with soap and water often, for at least 20 seconds
always wash your hands when you get home or into work
use hand sanitiser gel if soap and water are not available
cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when you cough or sneeze
put used tissues in the bin straight away and wash your hands afterwards
try to avoid close contact with people who are unwell
avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth if your hands are not clean
What are the symptoms of coronavirus?
The symptoms of coronavirus are:
a cough
a high temperature
a shortness of breath
These symptoms do not mean a patient has the illness, however, as they are similar to more common diseases such as cold and flu.
