British coronavirus evacuees who were LEFT BEHIND will be rescued

British citizens who were left stranded in Wuhan after missing the first airlift out of the coronavirus-hit city have now been rescued and will touch down in the UK today.

This second batch of evacuees will join 83 patients currently quarantined in Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral following their rescue from the embattled Hubei province, where last night the number of deaths jumped to 294. 

In a leaked email seen by the Liverpool Echo, the medical compound’s chief executive Janelle Holmes told staff: ‘I wanted you to be amongst the first to know that tomorrow morning we will be receiving an additional group of citizens from Wuhan.

‘We were asked to accommodate a small number of UK citizens who did not make the flight on Thursday from China with the last group.

‘The same safe-guarding arrangements and support are being put in place to get them here that were used for the first group of guests.’

It is not clear how many patients form this second wave, but the hospital boss does reveal that none of them are displaying any symptoms – yet the infection does have a 14-day incubation period during which time the bug can still spread.

The first group of evacuees were flown to RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire before being whisked 170 miles to the North West in a convey of buses driven by drivers who bizarrely did not wear face masks.  

The identities of the evacuees remain closely guarded by Public Health England, but many who missed out on Thursday’s airlift have since been critical of the government that they were denied a spot.  

Adam Bridgeman spoke of being stranded with his Chinese wife and newborn baby after being given less than two hours’ notice that his ride out of the locked-down city was taking off.

He pledged to stay after he was told that seats on jumbo jet were only for British citizens – meaning his spouse and child would have to stay behind. 

British academic Michael Pattison, who has lived in Wuhan for 15 years, revealed the shambolic evacuation arrangements and said: ‘I only received the official travel documents seven minutes before the deadline to get to the muster point which was 25 miles away in a city that’s in total lockdown with virtually no transport available’. 

And, seeming to lay bare the bungled rescue operation, Ben Kavanagh posted a picture of himself being flown out of Wuhan on an empty plane.  

The second flight of citizens prepared to arrive on UK soil as:   

• It emerged there are fewer than 30 special isolation beds in hospitals across the UK designed for quarantines such as the coronavirus;

• The Foreign Office said it was withdrawing staff from China and its ability to provide help to Britons in the country may be ‘limited’;

• A second airlift evacuation of Britons trapped in Wuhan, the city at the epicentre of the virus, was imminent

• The US government declared a ‘public health emergency’, banning foreign nationals who have travelled to China from entering;

• Australia and Israel followed suit, flouting World Health Organisation advice that such measures were not necessary;

• Vietnam halted all air travel to China while Italy became the first EU country to ban incoming flights.

Back in the UK, students at one of Britain’s most prestigious universities yesterday found themselves under the shadow of the global coronavirus outbreak last night after one tested positive for the virus.

A male student and his mother –both Chinese – became the first two cases to be confirmed in Britain, leaving students and staff at the University of York, part of the elite Russell Group, feeling ‘very, very frightened’. 

The pair were taken ill at a budget hotel in the city centre on Wednesday night and were last night being cared for in a special NHS isolation unit in Newcastle.

A source told The People that it was likely any visiting family had been here for at least a week – and could have come into contact with thousands of other people. 

The University of York emailed students telling them that while the news would cause ‘concern and anxiety’, the risk of infection was low. 

But tensions on the campus were evident in a Facebook post and email from ten days ago that raised concerns about a Chinese student with ‘a fever’.

The university said that incident had been investigated and was not connected with the recent case.

As the official death toll in China from the virus rose to 294, the UK Government launched an urgent public information campaign. 

People were advised to ‘carry tissues’ to cover coughs or sneezes in nationwide advertisements.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: ‘Our world-class NHS is well prepared to manage these types of incidents. We are doing everything we can to protect the public.’ 

A spokesman for York University said the student diagnosed with coronavirus – who had been with his mother at the £71-a-night Staycity apartment-hotel – was not believed to have come into contact with anyone on campus while they had symptoms. Health chiefs confirmed on Friday that both had both tested positive.

The university advised people concerned about their health to call 111. It also set up its own call centre. A spokesman said: ‘Our immediate concerns are for the affected student and family, along with the health and continued wellbeing of our staff, students and visitors.’ 

But The Mail on Sunday yesterday found that students – many wearing surgical facemasks – were extremely concerned. One 19-year-old undergraduate said: ‘I cannot stop thinking about this and it is totally freaking me out.’

Students had recently celebrated the Chinese New Year at a special gala event held at York’s Barbican centre, close to the Staycity hotel.

A male student said: ‘This is all anyone has been talking about. We are very worried.’

Public Health England (PHE) was continuing to seek people who had close contact – defined as being within two metres for 15 minutes – with the infected pair.

Staff at the Staycity said the mother and student checked in on Wednesday, but the man had fallen ill and called an ambulance. Hotel manager Nasser Shaher sought to calm guests, including one who recently underwent chemotherapy and was worried about her weakened immune system. Mr Shaher said he had been told by PHE that the risk was ‘minimal’ and the apartment involved had been thoroughly disinfected.

Meanwhile, Oxford University mathematician Dr Robin Thompson, who specialises in infectious diseases, forecast a one-in-three chance of a coronavirus outbreak in the UK. 

His calculations are based on an estimate that 20 per cent of new Wuhan coronavirus infections are passed on by those not exhibiting symptoms. The other factor is how long the two diagnosed here were symptomatic before seeking medical help.

In China it has typically been a couple of days and Dr Thompson said that in those circumstances, the risk of a ‘sustained transmission chain’ arising from the pair was around 37 per cent.

The Foreign Office yesterday announced it was withdrawing some staff from China and warned its ability to provide help to Britons in the country may be ‘limited’. UK Ministers said another plane will be sent to Wuhan to rescue British citizens if needed.

Chris Hill, 38, from Sunderland who remained in Wuhan instead of leaving his Chinese wife behind, said: ‘She is a nurse and is not able to get the time off and will not abandon her parents.

‘I am not willing to leave her behind and take my daughter.’

Adam Bridgeman, 33, and his Chinese wife Su and son Austin missed Friday’s flight out of Wuhan. He fears food may soon run out. ‘The main concern then is that Austin will need some medical attention,’ he said. ‘We don’t want to go to a hospital because of the virus. Most shops are shut. The variety of food we have access to is noticeably reducing.’

Tough measures to insulate students and staff were also imposed at the University of Derby, which began isolating anyone who returned from Wuhan, where the virus spawned, in the last 14 days.

It came as the number of confirmed cases in China rose to 11,791 today, surpassing the number in the 2002-03 outbreak of Sars.  

The spread of this grave global health emergency has also sent alarm bells ringing in British boarding schools which are banning their Chinese pupils from returning home in the upcoming half-term holidays.

Hereford Cathedral School was one of the first to declare all planned visits home have been scrapped, while a senior source at a top boarding school told MailOnline: ‘I doubt many, if any, schools will be sending pupils back at half term. 

‘All of ours are not returning, including some from Thailand. They added: ‘As this spreads worldwide do we try to limit movement of anyone, anywhere?’ 

In a statement today, a spokeswoman for the University of York said the risk of the infection being passed on to other people on campus is low. 

Those who have been in close contact with the student or their relative – within two metres of those infected for at least 15 minutes – will get advice provided officials are able to get in touch with them.

University of York Vice-Chancellor Professor Charlie Jeffery said he wished to provide reassurance for students and staff.

Speaking on Saturday afternoon, he said: ‘I want to reassure our students, staff and the wider community that we’re working closely with the lead agency Public Health England and other agencies to manage this situation.’

He said the university, which is home to students and staff from more than 140 countries, is ‘very much an international community’.

Stressing that the university is open and will continue to operate as normal, he added: ‘I want to reiterate to students, staff, parents and visitors that we’re working with our partners across the city to ensure that York and the university remain a safe and welcoming place to live, work and visit.’

Elsewhere, the University of Derby was also isolating students that have returned from Wuhan for 14 days following advice from Public Health England and the World Health Organisation. The university would not reveal where the students are being isolated – whether it in halls or elsewhere.

And in Wirral, Merseyside, the 83 Britons repatriated from the crisis-hit Chinese city last night are beginning their first day in quarantine – where they will be holed up in the building at the side of Arrowe Park Hospital for 14 days.

Those in isolation have been sharing glimpses of life inside the quarantine zone, with one giving a guided tour of his apartment block – complete with television, food, oven and more – while another shared an image of himself with a surgical mask on while sitting inside his room.

A total of 201 tests for coronavirus in the UK have been confirmed negative, the Department of Health said in the latest figures released this afternoon. 

Heidi Fraser-Krauss, Deputy Registrar and Director of Corporate and Information Services at the University of York, said: ‘Public Health England (PHE) have informed us that one of the two individuals to have tested positive for coronavirus is a student at the University of York.

‘We understand this development will cause concern and anxiety among our students, staff, and the wider community.

‘PHE has advised us that the risk of infection being passed to others on campus is low.

‘Current information from PHE suggests that the student did not come into contact with anybody on campus whilst they had symptoms, but investigations are ongoing to fully establish this.’

She added: ‘Our immediate concerns are for the affected student and family, along with the health and continued wellbeing of our staff, students and visitors.

‘We are working closely with NHS services and Public Health England who are taking the lead in responding to the case. The University is required to follow their direction in all matters related to this situation.

‘The University continues to operate normally. We are monitoring the situation closely and we continue to provide as much advice, care and support as we can to our University community.

‘If people have any concerns about their health in relation to suspected coronavirus we ask that they follow current PHE advice and contact NHS 111.

‘The University has set up a call centre over the weekend for anyone who has any further concerns or inquiries. The telephone number is 01904 809571.’ 

Students said the outbreak of the virus had resulted in racism towards Chinese students in York.

Nick Lunn, 23, a physics student from Skipton, North Yorkshire, said: ‘If you go through university pages on Facebook there is a clear racial sentiment.

‘People don’t feel comfortable around them [Chinese students] and it’s not right.

‘I’ve seen some people look genuinely scared around a Chinese student wearing a mask.’

Chay Quinn, 21, from Dartford, Kent, who is the editor of the York Vision student paper, said: ‘I hope this isn’t used a platform to marginalise Chinese students.

‘They already feel like they can’t engage with the rest of the student population.’

He added he felt the university didn’t inform students as quickly as they could.

He said: ‘I wish they would have told us sooner because we needed to know.

‘PHE need to let us know why it’s a low risk so we can understand and calm down.’

A student at York, who asked to remain anonymous, told MailOnline: ‘The university have been sending out the occasional email and informed us this morning about the infected student who attended York. But they told us the risk of it spreading was very low.

‘I highly doubt this though and feel like the university are trying to downplay everything going on for our own sanity.

‘We’ve barely been informed about anything that will happen to protect us. My seminars and lectures are all still running where hundreds of students gather in small lecture rooms. A very likely place to spread diseases. I feel like no one is really addressing the matter with us properly either and we are being left in the dark about what is happening.’

At the University of Derby, a spokeswoman confirmed to MailOnline a number of students had been ‘self-isolating’ for 14 days but noted all were ‘currently fit and well.

She said: ‘We have a very small number of students who travelled back from Wuhan before the travel restrictions were put in place. They are self-isolating for the required 14 day period and are being supported by our student living and wellbeing teams. All are currently fit and well.

‘Our Student Wellbeing team is in regular contact with Public Health England. We are ensuring that all our staff and students are aware of their advice and are providing frequent updates.

‘In common with all other UK universities, we are in close contact with our Chinese students both here in the UK and those who remain in China due to the travel restrictions.’

The hotel firm where the two confirmed British coronavirus patients were staying has said the apartment involved has been thoroughly disinfected and PHE has been providing support.

The two patients are being treated by Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in its specialist Airborne High Consequences Infectious Disease Centre (HCID). 

It comes after dramatic footage emerged yesterday showing medics in hazmat suits entering the Staycity hotel in York where the two Chinese tourists were.

It is believed the medics were deployed to the hotel as part of a cranked-up manhunt to find anyone who came into contact with the two coronavirus patients.

Separately, the Department of Health confirmed it was still trying to contact 438 travellers who have arrived here from Wuhan in the past three weeks.  An appeal went out this week urging them to self-isolate for 14 days.

The hotel remained open on Friday because officials reportedly refused to tell the owners their guests were the coronavirus patients.

Paul Hunter, a professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia, blasted the Government’s ‘worrying’ response after it emerged the hotel has remained open since a Chinese man fell ill there on Wednesday night and rooms can still be booked.

Fris Ilfifi, 30, who recently arrived from Saudi Arabia to study for a chemistry PhD at York University, was among those staying at the hotel when medics rushed in.

She told the Sun: ‘I saw the man. He was sitting at reception. Two medics went to his room and tested him.

‘When I checked at reception, they told me it was normal flu. Guests were not in masks. Everything was carrying on as normal. 

‘I was scared then, and now. I’m trying to find somewhere else to stay.’ 

York’s rich history makes it a hugely popular stop for visitors on tours of Britain and Europe.

Concerned guests began to check out yesterday afternoon after learning of the coronavirus link at the aparthotel, just outside the Roman walls of the tourist hotspot.

Michiela Saunders, 26, of Bishop Auckland, demanded a refund and checked out and has spoke of her fury that no-one warned her of the cases.

Other experts have warned ministers need to carry out ‘detective work’ in order to track down people who have been in contact with the confirmed cases.

The World Health Organisation has warned the never-before-seen virus – mainly spread through coughs and sneezes – can survive on surfaces such as tables and cutlery.

Around 2,000 people are thought to have jetted into Britain from Wuhan – the deserted city at the heart of the crisis – in the past three weeks, with hundreds still believed to be in the country.

It came as the UK Government’s evacuation flight landed at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire yesterday afternoon containing 83 Britons.

One of the evacuees from coronavirus-hit Wuhan today shared a glimpse of what life is like inside quarantine as he and 82 others spend their first day inside a nurses’ accommodation block in the Wirral. 

Matt Raw, who was part of a group flown in from China on Friday over the coronavirus outbreak, revealed that he and others staying in the building can ‘go outside for fresh air’ and are treated to ‘anything we ask for’.    

The Briton, who is staying in the block alongside his wife, will be holed up in the building at the side of Arrowe Park Hospital for 14 days – after which they will be allowed to leave provided they are clear of the virus. 

Speaking on BBC Breakfast this morning, Mr Raw said: ‘Every single thing that we have asked for we get. There is an army of people here who are looking after us extremely well. They are running out and buying everything. 

‘They’ve bought us televisions, radios. You name it. Anything we’ve asked for, they’ve bought for us.’

Also staying in Mr Raw’s four-bedroom apartment is his mother, who has her own room, and a mother and her daughter, who also have another room – leaving one empty room in the flat.

‘There is a another room, I think it is a quarantine bedroom, in the event that somebody does become sick,’ Mr Raw added.

‘We are allowed to have contact with anybody within the facility as long as we’re wearing face masks. We can go outside and get some fresh air. 

‘We can open the windows and get some fresh air. We’re being looked after to the absolute maximum that anyone can possibly expect.’ 

In a video blog from inside his room Mr Raw also told the Guardian: ‘They’ve actually put a bag here containing various essentials that we might need – underwear and things that people might not have had time to pack.

‘It’s a perfectly nice room. We’ve got all the essentials that we need.’

The evacuees have been supplied with food, and laundry facilities, and have access to the internet and a team of medical staff who will closely monitor their conditions.

Kitchens are available for those who wish to self-cater, and families are being kept together, with games consoles, toys and cots provided.

Coaches which transported the evacuees were seen parked in a fenced-off area of the staff car park at the hospital on Saturday morning. It is understood they will be taken away to be decontaminated later.

In another development on Saturday the Foreign Office announced it is withdrawing some staff from China.

It said essential staff will remain to continue ‘critical work’ but warned that its ability to provide help to Britons in the country may be ‘limited’.

UK ministers have said the Government will send another plane to Wuhan to rescue British citizens if needed and the PA news agency understands that the Foreign Office (FCO) is working with EU countries to add British passengers to any rescue flights they may charter back from the city.

One Briton in Wuhan has told of his fears of being left stranded after deciding he could not leave his wife behind.

Chris Hill, 38, from Sunderland said: ‘My wife is a nurse and is not able to get the time off and will not abandon her parents. I am not willing to leave her behind and take my daughter. It’s either we all go or we all stay in Wuhan.’

He added: ‘I had to make a choice which I did. My only worry now is after everybody pulls out the FCO will forget about those who are staying and not give any support for us.’

He said the departure of embassy staff was ‘not a good sight to see really, is it?’

Some reports on social media raised concerns that Paddington station had been cordoned off on Friday night due to a suspected coronavirus case.

But while the London Ambulance Service said two people had been taken to hospital from the station, it is understood the patients are not suspected of having the virus and the station was operational as normal on Saturday. 

The number of coronavirus cases worldwide has surpassed that of the Sars epidemic, although death rates are lower.

Qatar Airways has announced the suspension of flights to mainland China from February 3, following in the footsteps of other major airlines including British Airways.

Many other countries, including Australia, South Korea, Singapore and New Zealand have said they plan to quarantine evacuees for two weeks to avoid spread of the virus.

Russia, Mongolia and North Korea have also announced that they will close their land borders with China to guard against the spread of the virus. 

The virus emerged in early December and has been traced to a market in Hubei’s capital Wuhan that sold wild animals. It spread globally on the wings of a Lunar New Year holiday rush that sees hundreds of millions of Chinese people travel domestically and overseas.

Yesterday, Britain confirmed its first two cases – on the same day dozens of British evacuees from Wuhan arrived in the country – at a York hotel where both members of the same family fell ill.   

Dramatic footage from the budget Staycity showed medics in hazmat suits marching through an eerily deserted reception area, despite the £49-a-night tourist spot remaining open to guests. 

Officials are trying to trace 438 other air passengers who’ve recently arrived from Wuhan as medics in hazmat suits were seen entering the York hotel where the two people with confirmed cases were staying. 

One of the two coronovirus patients has now been revealed to be a student at the University of York. In a statement today, a spokesman for the university said the risk of the infection being passed on to other people on campus is low.

The virus’s rapid spread in two months prompted the World Health Organization on Thursday to declare it a global emergency. Most cases reported so far have been people who visited China or their family members. 

On Friday, the United States declared a public health emergency and President Donald Trump signed an order barring entry to foreign nationals, other than immediate family of American citizens and permanent residents, who visited China within the last 14 days, which scientists say is the virus’s longest incubation period.  

China has also flown two planeloads of its citizens back home to Hubei, the locked-down province at the centre of the deadly coronavirus outbreak where they were greeted by authorities in full-body protective suits.

A Xiamen Airlines charter flight from Bangkok touched down late Friday in the provincial capital Wuhan, where the infection is believed to have originated in a market that sold wild animals.

And today Spanish authorities confirmed that a German tourist was taken ill with the infection while on holiday in the Canary Islands. 

Britain and France are among 20 countries outside of mainland China to confirm cases of the virus as tech giant Apple has confirmed closure of all major stores and offices in the country.    

British evacuee Mr Raw is just one of a number to have shared their experiences inside the quarantine zone, after others last night posted images of themselves on social media wearing face masks. 

Accommodation for the quarantined Britons – who are separate to the two confirmed coronavirus cases in Britain – was yesterday kitted out with bedding, games consoles and Barbies ahead of their 14 days in quarantine. 

The evacuees were driven to the NHS staff accommodation blocks at the side of Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral just after 7.15pm after travelling 180 miles from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire. 

Ben Kavanagh was among those taking to social media last night to share their experiences of arriving at the hospital. 

He posted a picture of himself wearing a mask to Instagram with the caption: ‘We are all now safe in quarantine. Everyone has been fantastic, the airline, the stewards/stewardesses, the bus drivers, the NHS. Been travelling for 40 hours. I am mostly grease at this point. I will try to reply to everyone’s kind messages tomorrow.’     

The coronavirus, which has infected nearly 12,000 people and killed 259 – all in China – is known to spread easily through coughs and sneezes and close contact, and people may be contagious even if they feel well.  

Desperate to get TO Wuhan: Chinese flights full of locals land back in virus lockdown zone where people are queuing for two days to see a doctor

China has flown two planeloads of its citizens back home to Hubei, the locked-down province at the centre of the deadly coronavirus outbreak where they were greeted by authorities in full-body protective suits.

A Xiamen Airlines charter flight from Bangkok touched down late Friday in the provincial capital Wuhan, where the infection is believed to have originated in a market that sold wild animals.

Health authorities in white, full-body protective gear stood by the cabin door as the plane’s 73 passengers disembarked, smiling through face masks and waving to news photographers.

A second Xiamen flight landed soon afterwards carrying Hubei residents from Kota Kinabalu, a popular coastal tourist destination in Malaysia.

China’s foreign ministry said earlier on Friday that the country would bring Wuhan residents back from overseas ‘as soon as possible’ due to ‘the practical difficulties that Chinese citizens from Hubei, especially Wuhan, have faced overseas’.

The move came after a more than 30 airlines worldwide announced they were halting or reducing flights to China as the country struggles to contain the spread of the epidemic.

China’s aviation agency had said there were 117 nationals from Hubei province in Bangkok and 100 in Kota Kinabalu who are ‘willing to take the chartered flights back to Wuhan as soon as possible’.

This was despite the fact that Wuhan and surrounding cities have been locked down by authorities for more than a week, effectively trapping more than 50 million people in their homes after a near-blanket transport ban.

Nearly all of the 259 people killed in the outbreak so far were in Hubei.

Hospitals have been overwhelmed in Wuhan. AFP reporters saw long queues, with some patients saying they lined up for two days to see a doctor.

The charter flights prompted a flurry of discussion on Chinese social media.

‘These people probably don’t want to go back,’ said one, while another questioned if residents should be returned to Hubei if they were not infected.

China has advised its citizens to postpone trips abroad and cancelled overseas group tours.

Several countries including the United States, Germany, Britain and Japan have urged their citizens to avoid travel there.

The US has also declared a national emergency, temporarily barring entry to foreigners who had been in China within the past two weeks.

Neighbouring Myanmar turned a plane back to China on Friday with most passengers still on board – including French and American citizens – after one man suspected of contracting the coronavirus was taken to hospital. 

Inside the lungs of a coronavirus victim: Shocking X-rays show effect that killer virus had on 33-year-old’s vital organs

Shocking X-ray scans of 33-year-old show the effect that coronavirus has had on her lungs.

The woman arrived at hospital in Lanzhou, China, with a temperature of 102F and ‘coarse’ breathing after suffering from a cough for five days. 

She had travelled to Lanzhou a day before her symptoms had started and works in Wuhan.   

Doctors diagnosed her with the new strain of coronavirus after her white blood cell count was low which determined an infection. 

The scans show white patches in the lower corners of the lungs which indicates what radiologists call ground glass opacity – the partial filling of air spaces in the lungs. 

The white patches appear more pronounced in the second X-ray, labelled B, which was taken three days after the first and further into her treatment.   

The images were presented by a group of researchers at The First Hospital of Lanzhou University to the journal Radiology. 

Radiologist Paras Lakhani from the Thomas Jefferson University, who was not involved in the study but examined the images, said: ‘If you zoom in on the image, it kind of looks like faint glass that has been ground up.’ 

‘What it represents is fluid in the lung spaces,’ he told Business Insider. 

The virus has been identified as a new type of coronavirus. Coronaviruses are a large family of pathogens, most of which cause mild lung infections such as the common cold.

But coronaviruses can also be deadly. SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, is caused by a coronavirus and killed hundreds of people in China and Hong Kong in the early 2000s.

Some people who catch the Wuhan coronavirus may not have any symptoms at all, or only very mild ones like a sore throat or a headache.

Others may suffer from a fever, cough or trouble breathing. 

And a small proportion of patients will go on to develop severe infection which can damage the lungs or cause pneumonia, a life-threatening condition which causes swelling and fluid build-up in the lungs.

The woman was treated by inhaling a protein used to treat viral infections called interferon.

Radiologist Paras Lakhani told how doctors at Lanzhou would have likely administered fluids, steroids or a medication to open the woman’s airways.  

However pneumonia was ruled out after symptoms persisted and white patches extended to the edges of her lungs. 

Lakhari said pneumonia is usually treated with antibiotics and doesn’t usually ‘rapidly progress’.  

He added how ground glass on its own is not ‘particularly helpful’ in identifying coronavirus as bacterial, viral or even vaping can cause it to appear on X-rays. 

The extended white patches were also identified with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). 

Both are also coronaviruses and SARS resulted in 8,000 cases and 774 deaths in China from November 2002 to July 2003.  

The radiologist said the scans of those viruses bear ‘a lot of similar features’ to that of the 33-year-old from Wuhan.            

However the best way to identify coronavirus is to take swabs of saliva or mucus from a patient’s nose or mouth or alternatively testing phlegm they produce. 

Yet the test is only effective when the patient is showing symptoms.   

Foreign Office pulls remaining staff out of China as it warns Brits remaining in the country they can only expect ‘limited’ help

The Foreign Office has announced plans to pull staff from China after warning its ability to help Britons in the country may be ‘limited’.       

Essential staff will remain to continue ‘critical work’ as UK ministers said the Government will send another plane to coronavirus-hit Wuhan to rescue British citizens if needed. 

However the FCO has warned that its ability to provide help to Britons in the country may be ‘limited’. 

It comes as the Foreign Office is working with EU countries to add British passengers to any rescue flights they may charter back from Wuhan.

Families had been told that relatives with Chinese passports would be unable to join them after Chinese officials denied them permission to leave the country.

That decision was reversed hours before the plane was due to depart, but some people did not have time to get to the airport. 

Chinese health officials said early on Saturday that the death toll in the country from the virus had risen to 259, with the number of known cases rising from 9,962 to 11,791.

No deaths have occurred outside China, although cases have been confirmed across at least 23 countries.

The number of coronavirus cases worldwide has surpassed that of the Sars epidemic, although death rates are lower.

Many other countries, including Australia, South Korea, Singapore and New Zealand, have said they plan to quarantine evacuees for two weeks to avoid spread of the virus.

Russia, Mongolia and North Korea have also announced that they will close their land borders with China to guard against the spread of the virus.

Rescued UK nationals were taken to Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral in a convoy of six coaches, arriving shortly after 7.15pm yesterday where they will spend the next 14 days in quarantine.

The evacuation flight from the Chinese city at the centre of the outbreak carried 83 Britons and 27 non-UK nationals and landed at the Brize Norton RAF base in Oxfordshire at around 1.30pm. 

Their arrival comes as health officials urgently try to trace those who came into contact with two people diagnosed with coronavirus in the UK.

The UK passengers were taken to the Merseyside hospital to be housed in an NHS staff accommodation block with access to the internet.

A medic wearing a white specialist suit sat next to the driver of each coach.

The vehicles were led by a police escort to the rear of the hospital and on to a side road leading to the accommodation block.

Patients disembarked from behind barriers covering the accommodation entrance, but some could be seen inside wearing masks as they walked upstairs to their rooms for the next fortnight.

They are being given fully-furnished rooms, food, and laundry facilities, and have access to a team of medical staff who will closely monitor their condition.

Kitchens are available for those who wish to self-cater, and families are being kept together, with games consoles, toys and cots provided.

The evacuation flight came as the first two cases of coronavirus in the UK were confirmed by Public Health England (PHE).

PHE confirmed that the two people taken ill – who are members of the same family – had been staying at the Staycity apartment-hotel in York when they became unwell.

The firm has said the apartment involved has been thoroughly disinfected and PHE has been providing support.

The two people diagnosed with the virus are being treated by Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in its specialist Airborne High Consequences Infectious Disease Centre (HCID).

Professor Sharon Peacock, director of the National Infection Service at PHE, said: ‘Public Health England is contacting people who had close contact with the confirmed cases.

‘Close contacts will be given health advice about symptoms and emergency contact details to use if they become unwell in the 14 days after contact with the confirmed cases.’

Prof Peacock previously said that, while staff were working to trace people who have been in contact with the pair, they do not currently have ‘any idea’ of how high that number might be.

The PHE definition of close contact is being within two metres of the infected person for 15 minutes.

On Thursday, the UK’s four Chief Medical Officers raised the risk level of the illness from low to moderate and the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared an international public health emergency.

The US declared a public health emergency on Friday night, with President Donald Trump signing an order which will temporarily bar entry for most foreign nationals who have travelled in China within the last 14 days.