While Prince William's tone appears to be light, at the time, few cases of the virus had been confirmed in the U.K . and only began to significantly increase around early March. According to the U.K. Department of Health and Social Care, only 51 cases and one death had been reported at the time. Still, other countries like China, South Korea, and Italy were confirming more and more cases every day but the virus had not seriously hit either the U.S. or the U.K. at that point. Now, the U.K. has just over 8,000 confirmed cases and 422 deaths as of March 25 , reports the BBC.