British couple in hospital after Novichok nerve agent poisoning
London, July 5 (IBNS): Following a brief disappearance, the Novichok nerve agent is back in the news, after reports suggested that the highly poisonous substance landed a couple in hospital after they fell unconscious.
Identified as Dawn Sturgess, 44 and Charlie Rowley, 45, the pair was found unconscious at a house in Wiltshire on Saturday. Their state is said to be critical.
Though the first impression of the police was they they fell ill after consuming contaminated drugs, further analysis stated that the same nerve agent used in the attempted assassination of former double spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, was found.
However, the Metropolitan Police said there isn't enough evidence to lead them to believe that the pair was targeted.
Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu also couldn't confirm if the poison came from the same batch that was used on the former spy and his daughter.
Meanwhile, the second such attack in a period of months has triggered a panic attack among residents.
Advising people to stay calm, England's chief medical officer, Sally Davies, said: "I want to reassure the public that the risk to the general public remains low."
"As before, my advice is to wash your clothes and wipe down any personal items, shoes and bags, with cleansing or baby wipes before disposing of them in the usual way.
"You do not need to seek advice from a health professional unless you are experiencing symptoms, as any individual who had been significantly exposed at the same time would by now have symptoms," Davies said.
Officials have cordoned off places in Salisbury and Amesbury which were visited by the pair before they fell ill on Saturday.
Assuring the local public that health risks were low, Home Secretary Sajid Javid said, "The government's first priority is for the safety of the residents in the local area but as Public Health England has made clear, the risk to the general public is low."
Javid said that he will chair a high level meeting on Thursday and take stock of the ongoing investigation.
"Tomorrow I will chair a meeting of the government's emergency committee Cobra in relation to the ongoing investigation," he said on Wednesday.
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