(Adds confirmation from KPMG, background)
March 27 (Reuters) - British accounting firm KPMG's
chairman, Bill Michael, has tested positive for the coronavirus,
a spokesman for the company said late on Friday.
Britain has so far recorded more than 14,500 cases of the
highly contagious virus which causes the COVID-19 disease.
"We can confirm that Bill Michael has tested positive for
COVID-19. He is receiving the best available care and we are all
sending him our best wishes for a speedy recovery," the
spokesman said in an emailed statement.
KPMG Deputy Chair Melanie Richards will lead the accounting
firm in Michael's absence, the statement said. It did not say
whether any other KPMG executives or employees were being
quarantined or tested.
The Financial Times reported https://on.ft.com/2QOyvdS
earlier that Michael had tested positive and was being treated
in hospital.
The United Kingdom has so far reported more than 750 deaths
from the outbreak. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and health
minister Matt Hancock are among those who have tested positive.
Johnson ordered Britons on Monday to stay at home to halt
the spread of the virus.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Sabahatjahan Contractor in
Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila, Maju Samuel and Sonya
Hepinstall)