Coronavirus ‘impossible to contain’ as rescued Brits face 14 days in quarantine

Brits fleeing the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak now face two weeks in quarentine when they finally arrive back in the UK.

A rescue mission has pulled 83 Brits and 27 foreign nationals out of Wuhan, the Chinese city bigger than London that's still in lockdown.

They will land in Britain at some time this afternoon and will be rushed straight into quarantine at a facility in Merseyside after they touch down at RAF Brize Norton.

A specialist NHS facility has been made available at Arrowe Park Hospital in the Wirral.

The chief medical officer for the UK has also confirmed two people in Britain have tested positive for coronavirus.


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Prof Chris Whitty said: "The NHS is extremely well-prepared and used to managing infections and we are already working rapidly to identify any contacts the patients had, to prevent further spread.

"We have been preparing for UK cases of novel coronavirus and we have robust infection control measures in place to respond immediately."

The speed of the rescue from China has reportedly seen some Brits left behind amid claims that were given just two hours to get to the airport.

Others have opted to stay rather than leave their loved ones in Wuhan.

Coronavirus has already killed more than 200 people , with a further 9,000 infected.


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The World Health Organisaton has warned "make no mistake, this is an emergency in China".

So far, 18 countries have confirmed cases of coronavirus, with 98 people affected and coronavirus has been declared a global emergency.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has described the virus as an "unprecedented outbreak".

This is only the sixth time the WHO has declared a global public health emergency, which is when "an extraordinary event which is determined to constitute a public health risk to other states through the international spread of disease".

Previous global health emergencies include swine flu in 2009, polio in 2014, Zika in 2016 and ebola in 2014 and 2019.


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Some experts have also warned that coronavirus could be impossible to contain, despite China's incredible efforts to deal with the outbreak.

Cities have been placed in lockdown while huge new hospitals were built from scratch in just 48 hours to deal with those affected.

Flights have been grounded, trains halted and travel banned as tens of millions of people are told to remain where they are.

China's health minister, Ma Xiaowei, has warned coronavirus is becoming more transmissable.

Infectious diseases expert, Neil Ferguson, from Imperial College in London, said: "Despite the enormous and admirable efforts in China and around the world, we need to plan for the possibility containment of this epidemic isn’t possible."

His words have been echoed by Dr Allison McGeer, an infectious disease specialist from Toronto in Canada.

She said: "The more we learn about it, the greater the possibility is that transmission will not be able to be controlled with public health measures."

Official NHS for people returning from Wuhan is to stay indoors and avoid contact with other people for 14 days and the contact theuir GP, even if they are displayig no symptoms.

Cronavirus is a respiratory disease and its symptoms include fever, coughing and shortness of breath.

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