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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/30/coronavirus-hundreds-stranded-wuhan-uk-evacuation-flight-delayed
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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Coronavirus: delay to evacuation flight leaves Britons stuck in Wuhan | Coronavirus: delay to evacuation flight leaves Britons stuck in Wuhan |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| UK officials scramble to negotiate with China to gain permission for hundreds to leave | |
| Hundreds of Britons hoping to flee the Chinese region at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak have been left stranded after an emergency government-chartered flight to take them home was delayed. | Hundreds of Britons hoping to flee the Chinese region at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak have been left stranded after an emergency government-chartered flight to take them home was delayed. |
| A plane was due to leave locked-down Wuhan on Thursday morning, evacuating about 200 Britons to the UK, where they would be quarantined for two weeks at a secure NHS facility. | A plane was due to leave locked-down Wuhan on Thursday morning, evacuating about 200 Britons to the UK, where they would be quarantined for two weeks at a secure NHS facility. |
| But the plans were scuppered late on Wednesday as Chinese authorities had yet to grant the plane permission for takeoff, leaving British officials scrambling to negotiate. | But the plans were scuppered late on Wednesday as Chinese authorities had yet to grant the plane permission for takeoff, leaving British officials scrambling to negotiate. |
| The death toll of the virus, which has spread to at least 16 countries, has reached 170, and there are 7,711 confirmed cases in China. | The death toll of the virus, which has spread to at least 16 countries, has reached 170, and there are 7,711 confirmed cases in China. |
| Nick Gibb, the UK school standards minister, told Sky News: “There are some difficult issues that are being negotiated at very senior levels between the British government and the Chinese government. Our priority is to ensure the safety and welfare of British nationals in Wuhan and ensure they do return to the UK as soon as possible.” | Nick Gibb, the UK school standards minister, told Sky News: “There are some difficult issues that are being negotiated at very senior levels between the British government and the Chinese government. Our priority is to ensure the safety and welfare of British nationals in Wuhan and ensure they do return to the UK as soon as possible.” |
| Gibb confirmed the plan was for them to be taken to an NHS facility on their return, where they would be kept for 14 days to make sure that they did not have symptoms of the virus. He said the flight was “certainly coming to a military base in the UK and then the British nationals will go to the NHS facility for 14 days of quarantine”. | Gibb confirmed the plan was for them to be taken to an NHS facility on their return, where they would be kept for 14 days to make sure that they did not have symptoms of the virus. He said the flight was “certainly coming to a military base in the UK and then the British nationals will go to the NHS facility for 14 days of quarantine”. |
| Any passengers displaying symptoms of the virus – which include a sore throat, fever and breathing difficulties – will be barred from boarding the UK-bound flight. Those that do make it onboard will have to sign contracts agreeing to the 14-day quarantine. | Any passengers displaying symptoms of the virus – which include a sore throat, fever and breathing difficulties – will be barred from boarding the UK-bound flight. Those that do make it onboard will have to sign contracts agreeing to the 14-day quarantine. |
| Diplomatic efforts are continuing over the efforts of British families including Chinese passport holders to leave the country together. Dual nationals face being trapped in the Wuhan region. | |
| A British woman in the region who claimed she was told she would have to leave her three-year-old son behind if she flew out because he had a Chinese passport said the Foreign Office was in discussions with counterparts in the country about her situation. | |
| Natalie Francis, originally from York, said on Wednesday that Foreign Office staff in London told her that she could leave on a flight but that her son, Jamie, must stay. She said she was told “nothing can be done”. | |
| “He suffered from pneumonia last year and the only advice they can give is for me to leave him behind? Once again, thank you for nothing [Foreign Office] and Beijing embassy,” she wrote in a Facebook post. | |
| However, Francis suggested in an update on Thursday morning that there might have been some progress on the matter, writing: “Been in touch with the [Foreign Office], Jamie and I are on the lists but they are still discussing with the Chinese government. Flight has been delayed but may be [leaving on] Friday with quarantine in the north-west for 14 days.” | |
| Later on Thursday the World Health Organization’s emergency committee will reconvene in Geneva to decide whether to declare an international public health emergency in response to the outbreak. The organisation said on Wednesday that “the whole world needs to be on alert”. | |
| The UK Foreign Office said: “We are doing everything we can to get British people in Wuhan safely back to the UK. A number of countries’ flights have been unable to take off as planned. We continue working urgently to organise a flight to the UK as soon as possible. We remain in close contact with the Chinese authorities and conversations are ongoing at all levels.” | The UK Foreign Office said: “We are doing everything we can to get British people in Wuhan safely back to the UK. A number of countries’ flights have been unable to take off as planned. We continue working urgently to organise a flight to the UK as soon as possible. We remain in close contact with the Chinese authorities and conversations are ongoing at all levels.” |