FROM wearing masks to elbow bumps, a scientist at Reading University has answered people's coronavirus questions.

Questions were put to Reading University professor Simon Clarke, a virology expert in the university's School of Biological Sciences, amid the virus' outbreak.

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He has since answered the questions in a video released by the university, in a bid to ease confusion around the killer virus.

Questions include: 

Should people be taking extra precautions? If so, what?

He said: “People probably need to wash their hands more than they likely do already.

"That’s a really good way of reducing the chances of getting infected because when you get the virus on your hands, you’re more likely when you touch your mouth, your nose, your eyes, to get yourself infected. "So, reduce the amount of times you touch your face, keep your hands clean – that’s probably the best precaution to use.

"Of course, some people are using an elbow bump instead of shaking hands but that’s a matter of personal preference.”

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Do you expect the UK’s response to be similar to Italy’s if cases increase here?

He said: “Yes.

"If we see a really big upswing in the numbers of infections across the UK, we may see the health authorities, the government impose some restrictions on people’s movements and people’s gatherings but exactly what those are, we don’t know yet and there really is no point in putting those measures in place until they’re needed, until we have got enough people that we can control using them otherwise it’s a waste of time.”

Do we have to get tested if we have a simple cough?

The professor said: “No.

"The government’s advice at the moment is to dial 111 if you’re having shortness of breath, if you’re having coughing symptoms.

"NHS online will give you more details.

"Just because you get a simple cough doesn’t mean you have to self isolate.

"That advice might change though so watch that space.”

Should we wear masks or gloves?

He added: “I wouldn’t bother with either.

"The best thing it (the mask) will really do is stop you from touching your mouth or your nose, it won’t stop you touching your eyes which is a potential route to infection.

"I’m not bothering with them because the fibres in those masks whether they are those operating theatre masks or the dusk masks you can get from a DIY store, the pores in them are too big to stop a tiny little virus going through them.

"So if somebody coughs or sneezes virus over you, it will go straight through you.

"As for gloves, we know from settings like this in a laboratory that when people wear gloves on their hands they are less conscious that they have touched things like door handles and cupboard handles and things like that and are likely to spread things around more.

"The best thing you can do is to keep your hands clean.”