Fourth patient tests positive for coronavirus in the UK 

A fourth patient has tested positive for coronavirus in the UK after being infected in France by another British case.

They are being treated at the Royal Free Hospital in Camden, north London, marking the first person suffering the killer infection in the capital. 

The victim caught the virus in France from a previously confirmed UK patient, believed to be the British man under quarantine in Brighton who recently returned from a four-day trip to the Alpine ski resort of Contamines-Montjoie near Mont Blanc. 

This Brighton man became the third case on UK soil, joining two Chinese nationals quarantined in York. 

Health officials are now scrambling to track down anyone who came into contact with these UK cases to squash the spread of the highly-contagious virus. 

Professor Whitty said: ‘A further patient has tested positive for novel coronavirus in England, bringing the total number of cases in the UK to four.

They are being treated at the Royal Free Hospital in Camden, north London, marking the first case of the killer infection in the capital

‘The new case is a known contact of a previously confirmed UK case, and the virus was passed on in France.

‘Experts at Public Health England continue to work hard tracing patient contacts from the UK cases. 

‘They successfully identified this individual and ensured the appropriate support was provided.

‘The patient has been transferred to a specialist NHS centre at The Royal Free Hospital, and we are now using robust infection control measures to prevent any possible further spread of the virus.

‘The NHS is extremely well prepared to manage these cases and treat them, and we are working quickly to identify any further contacts the patient has had. This patient followed NHS advice by self-isolating rather than going to A&E.’

The nationality of the fourth UK patient has not been confirmed, but it is understood he was infected by a Brighton man who caught the bug in Singapore where he had attended a business conference.

He then flew to France and stayed at the Contamines-Montjoie, where he infected five British nationals – including a nine-year-old child – currently being treated in the Alpine region. 

Six other Britons at the resort were also quarantined but have not been diagnosed, and the local school attended by the child patient has temporarily shut.

Professor Paul Hunter of the University of East Anglia said: ‘This new case would appear to be linked to the cluster of cases in the French ski resort which is also linked to the case in Brighton. 

‘As such this case is part of the same cluster which is being reported as linked to a British national returning from Singapore.’

It comes as the government-charted plane which rescued stranded Britons from Wuhan, China, landed at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire. 

The victim caught the virus in France from another British national, believed to be the man under quarantine in Brighton who recently returned from a four-day trip to the Alpine ski resort of Contamines-Montjoie (pictured) near Mont Blanc 

Five Britons diagnosed with coronavirus in a French ski chalet (pictured) caught the killer infection from a Brighton man who stayed at the same resort

A locator map shows the Contamines-Montjoie ski resort in the French alps 

The fourth UK case was confirmed not long after a British man in Majorca tested positive for coronavirus.

His wife and two daughters tested negative, the government in the Balearic Islands said.

The health ministry said the study of cases that may have had contact with the man had already begun.

The passengers on the charter flight have been taken to the Kents Hill Park hotel and conference centre in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, where they will be quarantined for 14 days.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the repatriation flight had brought back 105 British nationals and family members, as well as 95 European nationals and family members.

A total of 13 staff and medics were also on board.

The ambulance service said the presence of the group in Milton Keynes would not present a risk to local people.