DEADLY coronavirus has reached Europe from China – with two confirmed cases in France.
France today announced the cases of the Wuhan coronavirus as fears over the spread of the bug hit fever pitch.
The Deadly bug originated in the Wuhan region of China Credit: Getty Images – Getty
radar shows a passenger jet from Wuhan landed at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport yesterday despite a travel ban
A worker wears a mask as contruction begins on a huge field hospital in Wuhan to deal with the virus Credit: Getty Images – Getty
The Chinese Government has ordered a – bed hospital be built Credit: Getty Images – Getty
Dozens of tourists wearing masks today in Edinburgh city center : Credit: Getty Images. – Getty
Two people seen with the protective gear outside Edinburgh Castle Credit: Getty Images – Getty One patient has been hospitalized in Paris and the other in the southwestern city of Bordeaux.
The shock news comes as it emerged a flight that landed at Charles de Gaulle airport yesterday left Wuhan AFTER the city was put in quarantine with all travel meant to be banned
French Health Minister Agnes Buzyn said during a press conference these were the first two cases in Europe.
The minister added it was likely other cases would arise in the country.
She said she believes France is the first European country to have confirmed cases because it has developed a test allowing medics to rapidly diagnose the sickened.
She added: “You have to treat an epidemic as you would a fire, that’s to say find the source very quickly.”
One of the cases, a – year-old man, passed through Wuhan before traveling to France on Wednesday.
And the
Health Secretary Matt Hancock was ordered today to “pull his finger out” as Brits were hospitalized over the killer virus.
Acting Lib Dem boss Ed Davey told Sun Online: “It’s time Matt Hancock pulled his finger out. We need to know how long the UK government has known the level of threat and how he is going to protect our citizens.
“These problems do not know borders and Hancock needs to work with international partners to stop this situation before it gets worse.”
In Britain people have been hospitalized over the illness, with fears that thousands more people could be at risk.
After days of intensive checks by medics in quarantined wards all of the patients were given the all-clear this afternoon
Out of the 96, five were tested for the killer illness in Edinburgh and Glasgow hospitals, while a man was being assessed in Belfast and another in Hillingdon.
Passengers arriving at Heathrow Airport are pictured wearing surgical tasks today Credit: PA: Press Association
Heathrow Airport passengers have been taking precautions as they arrive in the UK Credit: PA: Press Association
Parents and children have been pictured arriving in the country with the protective masks Credit: EPA
Fears over th e spread of the bug are starting to grip the UK Credit: EPA Panicked Chinese students have now started rushing to buy surgical masks as coronavirus fears grip the University of Edinburgh.
A university p harmacy has run out of masks after selling more than a year worth of stock in just one day.
Boots stores in the city have also “completely run out” and a sign in one store read “unfortunately we do not have any surgical or face masks in store”.
Some people are said to have taken to using bizarre techniques such as drinking rice vinegar to fight the risk of contracting the killer virus.
And stories are emerging of some students locking themselves inside.
Britain could be swarming with “zombies” infected by the deadly coronavirus infection without even knowing it, experts have warned.
The virus
has a long incubation time and virtually the same symptoms as the flu, so the full scale of an outbreak in the UK won’t be known for weeks.
Professor Robert Dingwall, a public health expert at Nottingham Trent University, told The Sun Online it would impossible to know just how many people could be infected by the killer virus for two weeks.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock chaired an emergency COBRA meeting at midday as the government come under pressure to contain the outbreak as soon as possible.
Meanwhile GPs have warned that anyone showing symptoms of coronavirus should be locked down in quarantine to stop it from spreading across our shores in a similar devastating fashion.
Fourteen people have been tested for the virus, with five confirmed negative and nine still awaiting results, Public Health England (PHE) said on Thursday night.
The Scottish Government had earlier confirmed that five people were being examined after presenting with symptoms of the illness, while it was understood that another patient was being tested at Belfast’s Royal Victoria Hospital.
After emerging in the city of Wuhan, the deadly coronavirus has continued its relentless global march, with the number of nations affected almost doubling overnight.
Confirmed cases have skyrocketed to more than in China alone, officials said.
Vietnam, Singapore, Saudi Arabia and Hong Kong all now have confirmed cases – alongside the US, China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand.
But the World Health Organization last night refused to declare a global public health emergency, saying it was “too early”.
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A worker sprays disinfectant at a railway station in Seoul, South Korea, as countries around the world deal with the epidemic Credit: AFP or licensors