Chief Minister Howard Quayle told a press conference this afternoon that the coronavirus threat was the greatest challenge the island has faced in living memory.

Health Minister David Ashford said there had been a further 10 postive results since yesterday, taking the total 23.

All are categorised as mild with patients recovering at home and not needing no hospital admission.

Mr Ashford said of the 23 positive cases, 11 had travel history but the remaining 12 did not, which he said clearly shows Covid-19 is spreading in the community.

He said a total of 284 test results had come back with a further 203 awaited.

The Minister said the youngest victim was in their early 20s and the oldest was 75. Four of the cases are in one household.

He said the increasing number of cases reinforced the importance of self-isolating if you need to, keeping 2m from others and washing your hands regularly.

The Chief Minister warned that the island has 24 hours to change its behaviour on social distancing and self-isolation - or the government will take ’draconian’ measures to enforce it.'We are ready to bring in these measures if and when required,' he said.Mr Quayle said if it became clear that shops are becoming the weak link then the government would have to move to close them.The Health Minister announced that non-urgent dentistry has stopped and all routine appointments for the next three months have been cancelled.Anyone requiring urgent dental attention will be triaged over the phone.All GP practices will be introducing telephone and video consultations. No one should be attending the surgery unless they are told to do so.Some cancer patients are to be contacted to bring forward their surgery. Cancer screening has now stopped.Mr Ashford urged anyone who has an appointment booked with a UK hospital to contact that hospital directly rather than Noble's.Director of nursing Cath Quilliam told the press briefing this afternoon that the statistics on social distancing are compelling.She said: 'If we all practice social distancing we can reduce the number of infections by 20% in a single day.'The director of nursing issued a plea for everyone to stay at home, social distance and wash your hands frequently. 'This will help us keep you safe,' she said.The health and social care services were under unprecedented pressure at the moment, she said, and it was crucial to prevent excess demand at any one time.