“Text from NHS worker” advises people not to buy bread. Fact Check

A message that claims is derived from an “NHS worker” advises everyone to stay indoors and not to leave the house even to buy necessities such as bread since the “worst” of the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak begins “tomorrow”.

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An example is below.

This is a text from an NHS worker
As of tomorrow, do not leave home for bread for anything! Because the worst begins tomorrow as the incubation date is met and many people that are positive with the virus start to peak!! It’s at this time other people are most vulnerable! so it is very important to stay home and not to be in contact with anybody, even members of your family if possible!! Being very careful is very important and very crucial at this time!!
As from tomorrow we are going to see the start of the peak of those that are positive, then there will be two weeks of calm and then two weeks where it decreases.
* What happened in Italy is that they neglected the contagion period and that is why all the cases turned out together and so badly, plus they didn’t know what they were dealing with *.
* And finally, please do not receive visits from anyone, not even from the same family. This is all for the good of all. *
WE WILL BE IN THE MAXIMUM STAGE OF INFECTION.
* DO NOT HOLD ON TO THIS MESSAGE, PASS IT ON TO ALL YOUR CONTACTS *

What’s true?
The UK public is advised to stay indoors (except in certain circumstances) to allow for sufficient social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic. Claims in the message about not visiting friends or family (or have them visit you) are true.

What’s false?
The UK government, nor any official sources, have requested UK residents stop shopping for basic necessities such as bread.

What’s unknown?
While there are varying estimates as to when the UK will reach its peak infection based on countries with similar infection patterns, the dates are ultimately unknown. Also unknown is when the rate of new coronavirus cases will “calm” and then decrease.

The above message – undated – has been spreading across social media for a number of days from the time of writing, and vaguely states that residents should not leave their houses from “tomorrow”, not even to purchase basic necessities such as bread.

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While the advice provided in the message about social distancing and avoiding close contact with friends and family is accurate, at the time of writing, the official advice from the UK government is that residents can still leave their houses to purchase basic items and to go food shopping, though this should be done “as infrequently as possible”. Again, at the time of writing, UK residents can also exercise once per day and go to work if it is deemed absolutely necessary.

If these restrictions are tightened at any point as the UK works its way through the pandemic, this will be well publicised on the government website and through mainstream media channels.

Get your advice on restrictions from the government website, and don’t heed scaremongering copy and paste warnings on social media from anonymous sources.