More than 100 Britons quarantined in Milton Keynes over coronavirus fears after being evacuated from the Chinese city of Wuhan have finally been released.
The Kents Hill Park training and conference centre in Buckinghamshire was used as a quarantine facility for 118 UK citizens flown out of Wuhan after the virus spread through the city earlier this year.
They were allowed to leave this morning after completing 14 days in quarantine with no symptoms of the disease, NHS England confirmed.
One man from Manchester who left with his Chinese wife described the feeling as ‘fantastic’, while others beamed with suitcases in hand waiting for taxis.
A family who were quarantined with their toddler said the experience was ‘hard’ but it hasn’t put them off returning to Wuhan one day.
Coronavirus evacuee Paul Walkinshaw is seen speaking to reporters after leaving Kents Hill Park Training and Conference Centre in Milton Keynes on Sunday
Two people quarantined at the Kents Hill Parking Training and Conference Centre in Milton Keynes are seen leaving with their suitcases on Sunday morning
A total of 118 people quarantined for two weeks in Milton Keynes are being released today
The group, who were brought back to Britain earlier this month on a repatriation flight from Wuhan, included around 10 children and a family of four.
Paul Walkinshaw, from Manchester, left with his wife Lihong, having been on holiday visiting her parents in the city of Shiyan for Chinese New Year when family members contacted them and told them about the virus outbreak.
Speaking outside, he said: ‘It feels fantastic to leave although it feels weird not having to wear a mask and gloves in public.
‘The first 48 hours were hard when we were confined to our rooms, after that it was fine.’
All smiles: One man quarantined in Milton Keynes for 14 days beams as he leaves the facility
A British woman is pictured leaving the Milton Keynes quarantine building on Sunday with her suitcase
Quarantine patients are pictured leaving the Kents Hill Park centre in Milton Keynes in a taxi on Sunday morning
The 39-year-old praised ‘friendly’ staff and the local community for their support and said he was looking forward to sleeping in his own bed again.
‘The first thing I’m going to do when I get home is sleep in my own bed.’
Another evacuee, whose name was given as Sadiqi, said: ‘Since we’ve been quarantined, we’ve been treated brilliantly.
‘It was definitely hard at first (inside the quarantine) but it is just what it is. It was just one of those things.’
One family with a young toddler also praised staff at the centre.
They said: ‘The staff were really nice and really helpful. They got us lots of things.
‘We live in the UK but it hasn’t put us off going back to Wuhan.’
It comes as dozens of evacuees from a coronavirus-hit cruise ship spent their first night quarantined at Arrowe Park hospital on the Wirral.
Thirty-two people, who spent more than two weeks trapped on the Diamond Princess cruise ship off the coast of Japan, arrived in Merseyside on Saturday evening.
Some of the group – reportedly made up of 30 Britons and two Irish nationals – made gestures from their coaches as they arrived at the Merseyside facility on Saturday evening – one forming a heart symbol with her hands and another an OK signal.
All of those who arrived at Arrowe Park tested negative to having the virus before flying back to the UK.
This is the second batch of evacuees staying in Merseyside following the hosting of 83 British nationals earlier in February and a health official said they now have a ‘blueprint’ for how to handle the new arrivals.
But honeymooner Alan Steele, who is among those staying there with his wife, vented his frustrations with the facilities, complaining things were broken and that the food was cold.
More quarantine patients are pictured finally leaving the facility in Milton Keynes
Posting on Facebook on Sunday morning, he wrote: ‘Supposedly 2nd fresh breakfasts turned up also cold. who the f-k organised this and as they had 80 odd 2 weeks b4 would have thought could manage such a simple task as 32 ppl.’ (sic)
It is understood some British nationals who are part of the Diamond Princess crew opted to remain.
Since being kept on board the cruise liner in the port of Yokohama, more than 600 passengers and crew have been infected.
British couple David and Sally Abel, from Northamptonshire, who were were on the cruise for their 50th wedding anniversary, have both been diagnosed with pneumonia and relatives complained they had been moved to a ‘prison-like’ hospital in Japan.
So far Coronavirus has killed 2,458 people worldwide, with the majority inside China and 78,582 known cases worldwide.