Coronavirus: Belgian woman with virus on same flight as Britons
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab also recommends against "all but essential travel to mainland China".
Tuesday 4 February 2020 22:37, UK
A Belgian woman who has tested positive for the coronavirus was on board the same flight that brought back UK citizens from China on Sunday, Belgium's health agency has said.
It came after the Foreign Office advised British nationals in China to leave if they are able to, as the coronavirus crisis intensifies.
The Belgian woman was one of nine people from Belgium on board the flight back to France, which carried passengers from 30 other countries.
Some 11 UK citizens and family members on the flight were then flown on to RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.
Of these, 10 continued to Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral for a 14-day period of isolation, while Anthony May-Smith was taken to hospital in Oxford to be tested for potential coronavirus.
Nick Phin, National Infection Service deputy director at Public Health England, said: "All of the individuals who were on this flight are currently in supervised isolation and are being monitored for symptoms."
The World Health Organization (WHO) officials has said there have been 27 cases of person-to-person coronavirus spread in nine countries outside China.
The WHO also said 22 nations have officially reported trade or travel-related measures linked to the virus.
Officials added that the measures should be short in duration, proportionate and considered regularly.
The WHO's director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has written to all health ministers and told them to improve data-sharing on the virus immediately.
Dr Tedros also reiterated WHO advice not to impose travel or trade restrictions, adding that such measures can cause "fear and stigma".
Chen Xu, China's envoy to the UN, has said the country has adopted "forceful measures" to halt the spread of the virus.
The envoy added that Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak, remains the priority for containment.
Mr Xu has said some restrictions do not comply with WHO advice and has told countries not to overact over the virus.
A WHO official has said the overall public health cost of the response to the outbreak from February to April will be an estimated $675m (£518m).
They added that the figure does not include the social or economic consequences of the outbreak.
In a statement released on Tuesday, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab recommended against "all but essential travel to mainland China".
He added: "The safety and security of British people will always be our top priority.
"As such, we now advise British nationals in China to leave the country if they can, to minimise their risk of exposure to the virus."
Around 30,000 British people are thought to live in mainland China, according to the Foreign Office.
Commercial airline options for departing China remain throughout the country except in Hubei province.
However the Foreign Office is continuing to work on arrangements to evacuate any remaining Britons from the region.
The prime minister's spokesperson has confirmed British government employees will return from Wuhan.
The Chinese government continues to impose further restrictions on movement within the country in response to the crisis, such as provincial highways and inter-city high speed rail, as well as the entry and exit to villages and towns.
British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have since suspended UK-China flights and the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the outbreak a global health emergency.
In an update to its travel advice, the Foreign Office also said some staff and dependants from the British embassy and consulates were bring withdrawn from China and that only essential staff would remain.
"The ability of the British embassy and consulates to provide assistance to British nationals from within China is limited, and would be even more limited in the event that the situation deteriorates further," the statement added.
The number of deaths from the coronavirus outbreak in China has risen to 425, with the total number of cases now standing at 20,438, Chinese officials said on Tuesday.
The latest figures are up from 361 deaths and 17,205 confirmed cases on Monday.
The Department of Health said on Monday that 326 UK tests for coronavirus have concluded, with a total of two coming back positive.
The two infected people - a University of York student and one of their relatives - continue to be treated for coronavirus in the specialist infectious diseases unit at Newcastle Royal Victoria Infirmary.
The student had a tenancy in private student accommodation in York, his university has confirmed.
It said in a statement that the person was not in the Vita Student block when they came into contact with the virus but "did return to their room on one occasion and stayed overnight".
A spokesman said: "During this brief period the student did not meet other residents or staff at the building, or make use of the communal facilities.
"PHE (Public Health England) has confirmed that they do not need to undertake any contact tracing with residents of Vita Student."
British officials are still trying to track down 239 people who flew from the Chinese city of Wuhan to the UK before travel restrictions were imposed in the coronavirus crisis.
A total of 94 UK nationals and family members have been evacuated to Britain from Wuhan - the city in Hubei province at the epicentre of the breakout - on two flights which arrived on Friday and Saturday.
The UK evacuees are currently undergoing 14 days in quarantine at Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral.
On Monday, the British embassy in Beijing announced the last flights from China to the UK for British nationals would be leaving this week.
It said flights would be run by "partner countries" and any British nationals and their immediate families, including those with non-UK passports, must make themselves known if they wish to travel.
The first confirmed fatality from coronavirus was in the Philippines - a 44-year-old Chinese man who appeared to have been infected before arriving in the country, according to the WHO.
Hong Kong also reported its first death linked to the virus on Monday, that of a 39-year-old man who had travelled to the territory from Wuhan.
While the Philippines, the US, Japan, Singapore and Australia have imposed travel restrictions, the UK has no plans to introduce a travel ban on foreign nationals who had recently been in China from entering the country.
Countries with such restrictions have sparked criticism from China, with its government accusing the US of causing "panic" in its response instead of helping.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the virus would be around for several months yet.
In a statement to the Commons on Monday, he said: "Currently the number of cases is doubling every five days and it's likely that the virus will be with us for at least some months to come.
"This is a marathon, not a sprint."