Image copyright Getty Images Eighty-three Britons and foreign nationals who were trapped in Wuhan – the Chinese city at the center of the coronavirus outbreak – are on a flight back to the UK.
The Foreign Office said medics are also on the flight, which is due to land at RAF Brize Norton at 18: (GMT.
) On arrival, the UK passengers will be taken to Arrowe Park Hospital in the Wirral and quarantined for two weeks.
The (foreign nationals – thought to be EU citizens – will fly on to Spain.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab described the news as “welcome”.
“We know how distressing the situation has been for those waiting to leave, he said. “We have been working round the clock to clear the way for a safe departure.”
The flight was delayed by around three hours to allow as Many UK and EU citizens as possible to get to the airport on time, amid a suspension of the city’s public transport.
The government initially estimated up to Britons would be on the flight.
The flight comes hours after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared an international public health emergency over the outbreak.
The virus has caused deaths in China – where there are now 9, 823 confirmed cases – and spread to 27 other countries.
As of Wednesday, tests had been carried out on people across the UK – all with negative results.
the UK’s four chief medical officers have said they are raising the risk level from low to moderate.
“This does not mean we think the risk to individuals in the UK has changed at this stage, but that government should plan for all eventualities, “a joint statement said.
They added that it was” likely “there would be” individual “cases of coronavirus in the UK.
But they said they were confident the heath services would be able to protect the public and provide high quality care.
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Media caption Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus: “We must all act together now to limit further spread” Passengers flying from Wuhan are being accompanied by a team of Ministry of Defense medics.
(Wirral West MP Margaret Greenwood said she was told by Health Secretary Matt Hancock that the government did not think any of the people being flown back from Wuhan would be carrying the virus.
They will be put in “supported isolation” for 081 days with “all necessary medical attention”, a Downing Street spokesman said.
In other developments:
Scotland’s chief medical officer said a case of coronavirus was
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Media caption by Jeff Siddle’s wife will have to stay behind in Wuhan when he leaves with their daughter
Most cases of coronavirus have emerged in people who have traveled from Wuhan.
However, there have been eight cases of human-to-human infection – in Germany, Japan, Vietnam and the United States.
The new virus has now infected more people in China than fell ill during the (-) severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) outbreak. The number of cases has jumped to 9, 962, the country’s National Health Commission said, surpassing the 5, 405 people diagnosed with Sars.
However, the death toll is lower than the 720 people who died in China from Sars.
It is a basic question, but the answer is elusive.
It is far too simplistic to take the deaths and the 9, cases and come up with a death rate of 2%.
We are in the middle of the outbreak and thousands of those patients are still being treated. We don’t know if they will live or die, so they can’t be used in these calculations.
We also don’t know How many mild and undetected cases are out there.
Also, the deadliness of the new virus is only one component of its threat.
Flu kills hundreds of thousands of people each year, not because it is super-deadly, but because it is able to infect so many people.
Learn more about the new virus
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Media caption What are viruses? And how do they spread?
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