The coronavirus epidemic is expected to stick around for another year until Spring 2021, according to worrying reports.

A secret Public Health England (PHE) briefing for senior NHS officials revealed the alarming prediction, including that up to 7.9 million Brits may have to be hospitalised with the virus, the Guardian reports.

It was also suggested that health officials are expecting as many as 80% of Britons to become infected with the coronavirus over that time.

The UK's coronavirus death toll has risen to 35 as it was revealed the Government will ask elderly people to self-isolate for up to four months.

The Department of Health (DoH) said 14 more patients have died in England after testing positive for Covid-19. This follows the 10 deaths announced on Saturday.

A total of 34 people have died from the virus in England, while there has been one death in Scotland.

NHS England said the patients whose deaths were announced on Sunday were aged between 59 and 94, and they had underlying health conditions.

There have been a total of 1,372 positive tests for coronavirus in the UK as of 9am on Sunday, up from 1,140 at the same time on Saturday, the DoH said.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said people aged over 70 will be asked in the coming weeks to self-isolate for up to four months, in order to protect them from the virus.

Asked if that time frame was in the Government's plan, he told Sky's Sophy Ridge On Sunday: "That is in the action plan, yes, and we will be setting it out with more detail when it is the right time to do so, because we absolutely appreciate that it is a very big ask of the elderly and the vulnerable, and it's for their own self-protection."

Pressed on when the measure will be introduced, he said: "Certainly in the coming weeks, absolutely."

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