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Coronavirus: Britons stuck in Wuhan to be flown home on Friday Coronavirus: Britons to arrive home from Wuhan on Friday
(about 2 hours later)
Dominic Raab confirms China has given permission for takeoff at 5am local time Flight due to land at RAF Brize Norton and returnees will be taken to Wirral for 14 days quarantine
Hundreds of Britons stranded in the Chinese region at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak will be flown home early on Friday morning, the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, has confirmed. Around 120 Britons will fly from the Chinese city at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak overnight and land in the UK on Friday morning where they will be taken to Wirral for a fortnight’s quarantine.
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. Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, announced that the emergency flight, which was delayed by 24 hours, would be taking off from Wuhan and was due to land at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire at around 9am.
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. Military doctors will be onboard the chartered plane in case immediate treatment is necessary, although any passengers displaying symptoms of the virus – which can include a sore throat, fever and breathing difficulties – will be barred from boarding.
On Thursday Rabb confirmed the plane would take off at 5am local time. He said: “We are pleased to have confirmation from the Chinese authorities that the evacuation flight from Wuhan airport to the UK can depart at 0500 local time on Friday 31 January. The safety and security of British nationals is our top priority. Our Embassy in Beijing and consular teams remain in close contact with British nationals in the region to ensure they have the latest information they need.” It is understood there will be a quarantine area in the plane in case somebody falls ill during the flight.
It is understood the flight is due to land at RAF Brize Norton, in Oxfordshire, before the arrivals are taken to a former NHS facility in the north-west of England. It comes as Scotland’s chief medical officer, Dr Catherine Calderwood, said it was “highly likely” that there would be a positive case in the coming days although no one has yet been diagnosed. The returnees will be bussed to Arrowe Park hospital in Wirral where they will be monitored and treated if any symptoms develop. They will be staying in an accommodation block usually designated for NHS staff. Margaret Greenwood, the Labour MP for Wirral West, said she had spoken to the health secretary, Matt Hancock, who told her that experts believed it was unlikely that those quarantined had the virus.
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. Some 161 British nationals have so far tested negative for the virus. Passengers were asked to sign contracts agreeing to the 14-day quarantine as a condition of getting the flight home. A further 50 EU nationals will also be on the chartered flight, which will fly on to Spain where it will complete its journey.
Nick Gibb, the UK school standards minister told Sky News on Thursday morning that the plan was for British evacuees 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. Raab said: “We are pleased to have confirmation from the Chinese authorities that the evacuation flight from Wuhan airport to the UK can depart at 0500 local time on Friday 31 January. The safety and security of British nationals is our top priority. Our embassy in Beijing and consular teams remain in close contact with British nationals in the region to ensure they have the latest information they need.”
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. Some Britons with family members who hold a Chinese passport have decided to remain in Wuhan because they faced being separated if they had chosen to travel.
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. Matt Raw and his 75-year-old mother, Hazel, were entitled to a place on the flight but are staying in Wuhan as Matt’s wife, Ying, a Chinese national, was not allowed to board because of strict rules imposed by the Chinese government.
“I would hate for anything to happen to [my mother] and I would much rather be somewhere where the virus isn’t,” said Raw. “Half of the British people here that wanted to leave are still trapped. The government’s only done half the job.”
The death toll from the virus, which has spread to at least 16 countries, has reached 170, and there are more than 7,700 confirmed cases in China. A total of 161 British nationals have so far tested negative for the virus.
Scotland’s chief medical officer, Dr Catherine Calderwood, said it was “highly likely” there would be a positive case in the UK in the coming days.
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.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”. Natalie Francis, originally from York, said on Wednesday that Foreign Office staff in London told her 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.“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.”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.”
As British Airways extended its suspension on flights to and from China until the end of February on Thursday, an Italian cruise ship carrying 6,000 passengers was held at a port in an Italian coastal town near Rome after two Chinese passengers fell ill with suspected coronavirus. The first US case of person-to-person transmission of the coronavirus has been confirmed by health officials. The individual is married to a Chicago woman who was diagnosed with the virus after she returned from a trip to Wuhan.
The couple, who boarded the Costa Smeralda on 25 January, later came down with fevers and suffered breathing problems. However, local reports suggested they had tested negative. Elsewhere, an Italian cruise ship carrying 6,000 passengers was held at a port near Rome after two Chinese passengers fell ill with suspected coronavirus.
Meanwhile, an apartment-hotel in Yorkshire was put on lockdown after a man believed to be a Chinese national was taken to hospital on Wednesday evening by paramedics clad in quarantine suits. York’s Staycity Hotel confirmed that the apartment where the man was staying “has been sealed off, after which it will undergo a thorough environmental clean and disinfection”. The couple boarded the Costa Smeralda on 25 January and later came down with fevers and breathing problems. However, local reports suggested they had tested negative.
It comes as Russia closed its border with China and moved to stop issuing electronic visas to Chinese nationals. The prime minister, Mikhail Mishustin, pledged: “We have to do everything to protect our people.” An apartment-hotel in Yorkshire was put on lockdown after a man believed to be a Chinese national was taken to hospital on Wednesday evening by paramedics clad in quarantine suits.
York’s Staycity Hotel confirmed that the apartment where the man was staying had been sealed off and would undergo “a thorough environmental clean and disinfection”.
British Airways announced it would suspend flights to and from China to the end of February, one of a number of carriers stopping or reducing services to the affected country.
Russia closed its border with China and moved to stop issuing electronic visas to Chinese nationals. The prime minister, Mikhail Mishustin, pledged: “We have to do everything to protect our people.”
As China reported its biggest single-day jump in coronavirus deaths, the country’s football association cancelled all domestic games.As China reported its biggest single-day jump in coronavirus deaths, the country’s football association cancelled all domestic games.