Fourteen UK patients have already been tested for the killer coronavirus as all recent arrivals from Wuhan were urged to contact the NHS if they feel ill and GPs told to ask anyone with flu-like symptoms if they have been to China – and then lock them in a room if they have.
More than 2,000 people have jetted into Britain from the Chinese region on lockdown after 26 have died and more than 800 people fell ill with the virus first incubated by bats and snakes.
The Scottish government earlier confirmed it was testing five cases in Edinburgh and Glasgow ‘as a precaution’. Another man was being tested in isolation at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, and there was a suspected case in Hillingdon, west London.
As the deadly coronavirus was feared to have arrived in Britain, GPs have now been instructed to check the travel history of anyone with a chest infection, sore throat of shortness of breath. The doctors should then shut patients in a consultation room and continue the consultation over the phone if they suspect they have the virus.
Anyone with these symptoms, who has travelled to the UK via Wuhan, will be tested for the virus and if cases are confirmed put in isolation at one of four UK super-hospitals: Two in London, one in Liverpool and one in Newcastle.
Any of the 2,000 people who have flown into Britain from the Chinese region and come down with either shortness of breath, cough or sore throat should call 111 in the first instance rather than turn up at A&E and risk infecting other patients.
China has now stepped up measures to contain the virus by shutting down public transport suspensions in 10 cities, closing temples, and the rapid construction of a new hospital to treat anyone infected.
Medical staff transfers a coronavirus patient in Wuhan City – a metropolis of 10milliopn people where 2,000 people in Britain today have been in the past fortnight
A passenger arrives wearing a mask at Heathrow Terminal 4 as it emerged there are 2,000 people who have landed in Britain from Wuhan who must contact the NHS immediately if they fall ill in case it is coronavirus
A poster at Heathrow Airport tells passengers to be aware for symptoms including a cough and difficulty breathing – with 2,000 people who have flown in from China in the past fortnight told they should contact 111 if they fall ill
Public Health England has confirmed 14 patients in the UK with suspicious symptoms had been tested in recent days. Five were given the all-clear, leaving nine suspected cases.
Officials fear thousands of foreign students who have gone back to China to celebrate their New Year this weekend will return to the UK unaware they have the virus.
Universities are already identifying staff and students who have recently visited the worst-hit areas, with some told that they will not be allowed back on campus unless they agree to a ‘suitable quarantine period’. Last night 830 cases and 26 deaths had been recorded in China alone.
Amid fears that Britain can do little to stop the virus spreading, Health Secretary Matt Hancock stressed that officials were ‘well prepared’ for its arrival.
The developments came as:
- At least 10 Chinese cities – which are home to up to 20million people – were put on lockdown
- A British man in Wuhan described the ‘blanket of fear’ hanging over the city at the centre of the outbreak; Singapore and Vietnam became the latest countries to confirm cases
- Ministers faced criticism for failing to monitor jet passengers arriving from China, when other countries were taking measures to increase screening
- There are at least 20,000 Chinese student in the UK. Newcastle University alone said that it is hosting 300 students from the worst-hit Chinese province, Hubei
- GPs were told to shut patients in a room and continue the consultation over the phone if they suspect they have the virus
- Three separate research teams began work on developing potential vaccines
The World Health Organisation last night stopped short of declaring it a ‘global health emergency’, but said there was no doubt it ‘may yet become one’. The virus – which was previously unknown to science – first appeared in Wuhan, central China, last month. It originated in a meat market and scientists believe that it ‘jumped the species barrier’ from snakes, which may have been on sale illegally, to humans.
Symptoms begin with a fever, a dry cough and sneezing. This is followed by shortness of breath about a week later, which can develop into pneumonia. All 26 deaths known about so far have occurred in China and most patients were elderly. The virus has now spread to seven countries including the US, Thailand, South Korea, Singapore and Saudi Arabia.
There have been two cases in Japan, one of which exposes how infected travellers leaving China could be missed by health checks. The Wuhan resident, in his 40s, developed a fever several days before his journey to Japan. But his condition then stabilised. He reported a fever again three days after he arrived and is now in a Tokyo hospital, Japan’s health ministry said.
On Wednesday night, China suspended all flights out of Wuhan. Direct flights from the city to Heathrow have been halted as a result, although there are still many flights into the UK from other Chinese cities. Currently, there are no screening measures on these flights on arrival.
An airline passenger is wheeled out of an airport in Fuzhou in a quarantine box Fuzhou, amid suspicions he has the coronavirus. It is unclear when the picture was taken
Three passengers – a man and two children – arrive at Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 3 on January 23 after flying from China
A cyclist crosses an empty street in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, January 23. The streets of Wuhan are empty after authorities imposed a complete travel ban on residents
A resident wears a mask to buy vegetables in the market on January 23, Wuhan. Flights, trains and public transport including buses, subway and ferry have been closed
Yesterday the NHS’s Chief Medical Officer wrote to hundreds of thousands of doctors and nurses advising them to establish whether patients had recently visited Wuhan. The letter said Chinese New Year celebrations could ‘amplify transition’, including within the UK, due to the ‘mass movement’ of people around the world.
University staff are worried that some of the Chinese students who will travel home this Saturday will bring the infection back. As coronavirus has an incubation period of up to two weeks – the time between infection and symptoms beginning – they may pass it on before they even feel ill.
One in five international students in Britain is from China. Professor Juergen Haas, the head of infection medicine at Edinburgh University, said there would be ‘many more’ suspected cases, especially in cities with high Chinese student populations. These include Manchester, Birmingham and London.
Mr Hancock yesterday told the Commons: ‘The number of deaths and the number of cases is likely to be higher than those that have been confirmed so far and I expect them to rise further. The public can be assured that the whole of the UK is always well prepared for these type of outbreaks.’
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organisation, said: ‘Make no mistake. This is an emergency in China. But it has not yet become a global health emergency. It may yet become one.’
Jeremy Farrar, of research charity the Wellcome Trust, said: ‘This isn’t just a China issue, it’s going to affect us all.’
The locations of all the 14 patients is not clear at this stage, but earlier today tests on five patients in Scotland had not yet ruled out coronavirus. It is unclear where they are being treated but sources say they are at both Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital and Edinburgh’s Royal Infirmary.
All of the patients in Scotland are thought to be in isolation and MailOnline understands they flew in to London in the past fortnight before making their way to Scotland. It is unclear if they are related.
Another patient in Northern Ireland – who also travelled from Wuhan, but it is unclear when – is being treated at Belfast’s Royal Victoria Hospital.
It comes as pressure grows on ministers to do more to protect the public. Health Secretary Matt Hancock sought to issue reassurances today as he addressed MPs about the killer outbreak. He promised all passengers on direct flights from China will receive information on what to do if they fall ill.
Passengers from Wuhan last night claimed they were just waved through Heathrow and told to ring NHS 111 if they began to feel ill – despite Government promises of ‘enhanced monitoring’ of flights out of the Hubei city.
Nine Chinese cities and towns, including Wuhan – which has banned all flights in and out of the city, have been placed in quarantine in a desperate attempt to try to contain the SARS-like virus. Shocking videos show how passengers at airports feared to have the virus are being wheeled out in a special ‘quarantine box’.
Officials in China’s capital Beijing announced major Chinese New Year events were cancelled because of the constantly-mutating virus, which can cause pneumonia and organ failure.
In a separate development, a passenger on a flight to Los Angeles from Mexico City was taken to hospital and quarantined after showing ‘disturbing’ symptoms consistent with China’s deadly coronavirus. If confirmed, they will become the second case on America soil. The first case – an unidentified man in his 30s in Washington – is being treated by a robot, it was revealed yesterday.
More passengers go through the arrivals hall at Heathrow’s Terminal 3 on January 23, as fears grow the coronavirus will spread to the UK
Doctors at the Central Hospital of Wuhan attend to a patient with coronavirus. It is unclear when this picture was taken
Is it has been reported that some of the patients in Scotland are being treated at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow
Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital. Scottish Government has not confirmed how many patients are being treated at the hospital
The other patient in Scotland was being treated in Edinburgh, thought to be at the city’s Royal Infirmary (pictured)
The patient in Northern Ireland – who also travelled from Wuhan, but it is unclear when – was being treated at Belfast’s Royal Victoria Hospital on Thursday
Chinese authorities say 26 people have died and now more than 800 people have been infected across the world, with cases cropping up in the US, Saudi Arabia and Singapore
The coronavirus can lead to pneumonia, which can kill people by causing them to drown in the fluid flooding their lungs
Three Chinese cities, including Wuhan – which has banned all flights in and out of the city, were placed in quarantine in a desperate attempt to try to contain the SARS-like virus, which can cause pneumonia and organ failure
Queen Elizabeth University Hospital – which is thought to be treating one of the patients – has yet to issue a statement, saying the Scottish Government would release an update later today.
Senior doctors told the Record that they believe the cases may both be down to just the flu, given the patients’ symptoms.
One source told the newspaper: ‘There was no doubt the situation was being taken seriously because of the symptoms being displayed and the specific origin of travel.
‘The patient came through London to Glasgow and after the symptoms were flagged up no chances were taken.
‘The tests that were carried out could not immediately isolate what the condition might be and it may take a bit longer to be absolutely sure what doctors are dealing with. Obviously they are erring on the side of caution in the meantime.’
Regarding cases, the Prime Minister’s deputy spokesman told reporters: ‘These measures are purely precautionary and nobody has tested positive. We are well prepared and well equipped.’
Scottish Government sources confirmed five patients were being tested – after issuing a statement to say the correct figure was just three on Thursday.
Confusion surrounded the true number of patients being tested, with the Edinburgh Evening News reporting that the three patients were being treated at the city’s Royal Infirmary – and one in Glasgow.
Professor Jurgen Haas, head of infection medicine at the University of Edinburgh, also claimed there were four cases in Scotland – three in Edinburgh and another in Glasgow.
But the Daily Record said a source had revealed two patients had been taken into isolation in Glasgow, saying the city’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital was treating at least one patient and had implemented control measures. It reported a third patient was being tested in Edinburgh.
Discussing the potential spread, Professor Haas said: ‘Here at the University of Edinburgh we have more than 2,000 students from China and they are always coming and going back to China so we are relatively sure we will have cases in the UK from travellers coming back from China.’
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: ‘There are currently no confirmed cases of coronavirus (WN Co-V) in Scotland and the risk to the Scottish public remains low.
‘Following travel to Wuhan, China, two people confirmed as diagnosed with influenza are now being tested for Wuhan Novel Coronavirus as a precautionary measure only. Three further people are also undergoing testing on a similar precautionary basis.
‘As the situation develops we will update should there be any confirmed cases of Coronavirus, rather than provide a running update on cases being considered on a precautionary basis.’
The BBC broke the news of the suspected case in Northern Ireland, reporting that it is believed the man is being treated in an isolated ward of the hospital.
Belfast Health Trust, which runs the hospital where the patient is being treated, repeatedly declined to comment to MailOnline about the potential case. The Public Health Agency (PHA) also declined to comment.
It is understood a patient arrived at the Royal Victoria showing symptoms which may or may not be associated with the condition but it will be some time before results are returned.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock has insisted officials would ‘not hesitate’ to ramp up UK measures to protect the home nations from the spread of the deadly Chinese coronavirus.
In parliament Thursday morning, the Health Secretary told MPs: ‘Currently the evidence suggests the vast majority of cases are in Wuhan.
‘Obviously we keep that under constant review and we will not hesitate to take further steps if that’s necessary to protect the British public.’
He added: ‘We have been closely monitoring the situation in Wuhan and have put in place proportionate, precautionary measures.’
His comments came amid growing fears the safety checks at UK airports were not tough enough.
Shadow health minister Sharon Hodgson said arrivals seemed to be getting ‘virtually no screening’.
And she asked if flights from other Chinese cities would be monitored. Officials said yesterday just passengers from Wuhan would be monitored.
Travellers from the giant city, home to 11million people, were separated last night at Heathrow Airport, as part of a drastic plan to contain any potential spread of the virus.
Ministers announced the Wuhan flight – one of three direct flights that go to London each week – would land in an isolated area of Terminal 4, and passengers would be met by a team of medics.
But holiday-makers arriving from the virus-hit city expressed their shock as they were met by a health team but had not been subject to any screening checks.
Instead, they were given a Public Health England leaflet, advising them to contact doctors if they felt ill before being allowed into the country before they were let directly though the airport after baggage reclaim and immigration checks. One said it felt like a ‘completely normal flight’.
By contrast, countries including the US, Malaysia and Singapore have introduced more rigorous checks, with all passengers coming in from Wuhan are having their temperature taken, regardless of whether they have any symptoms.
And the UK is carrying no checks on passengers coming in to Britain on the dozens of flights originating from Wuhan which come via Bangkok in Thailand, Shanghai in China or Hong Kong.
Wuhan earlier this week shut down its entire public transport system as it tried to halt the outbreak of the deadly virus.
People have been told not to leave the area and the airport and train stations will be closed to outgoing passengers, in a week when millions are travelling for the upcoming New Year holiday.
In one video, a man can be seen ‘disinfecting’ eerily quiet streets of Wuhan, with billowing fumes filling the air outside an apartment block
Passengers at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport Authority are scanned by thermal imaging for body temperature as they go through health measures and procedures against deadly SARS-like virus
A picture captured January 23 shows healthcare workers fitted with face masks helping a mother and child in Hong Kong
Two cities close to Wuhan – which has ordered all residents to wear face masks in public places – have now also been locked down.
Ezhou has shut down train stations, and Huanggang will suspend public buses and trains and order cinemas and internet cafes to close their doors.
Officials in Beijing, the Chinese capital home to 21million people, announced all major Chinese New Year events in the city have been cancelled.
Fears of the coronavirus, which has yet to be officially named, have grown as Saudi Arabia claimed to have become the tenth country to declare a confirmed case.
An Indian nurse working at al-Hayat hospital caught coronavirus, reports said. Around 100 nurses were tested – but only one was found to have the virus.
Al-Hayat Hospital is in Khamis Mushait, some 560 miles (900 km) southwest of the capital Riyadh. The minister added that the nurses had been quarantined and tested due to the threat.
But India’s consulate in Jeddah have now dismissed the claim, saying the nurse actually only had Mers – or Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, another type of coronavirus.
Another clip reportedly shows an airline passenger with suspected SARS-like being wheeled out of an airport in a quarantine box
Quarantine tents appear to have been set-up on the outskirts to isolate anyone showing symptoms in a pop-up medical area
Health officials say the first American man infected with the coronavirus may have come in contact with at least 16 people before he was put in isolation. The unnamed man from Washington state flew in to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport from China on January 15 and returned to his home in Snahomish County before being diagnosed with the virus five days later on January 20
The Washington state patient who became the first recorded case of the new coronavirus in America is currently in isolation at Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett (pictured)
Vietnam also reported two cases Thursday afternoon. Reports say the father and son, whose identities haven’t been revealed, had arrived from Wuhan. Both are said to be in a good condition.
Singapore announced just hours before that it also had a confirmed case, with a 66-year-old man also from Wuhan testing positive for the virus.
Four cases have also been recorded in Thailand and two in Hong Kong. Taiwan, Japan, Macau and South Korea have all reported one case.
The US has also reported a case – an unidentified man from Washington state, who is in his 30s. It was revealed that he had came into close contact with at least 16 people before he was put in isolation.
According to health officials, he wasn’t diagnosed until Monday, January 20 – five days after he landed at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport from China. He did not fly directly from Wuhan, where he originally set off from. Nor did he visit any of the markets thought to be at the source of the outbreak.
The patient is being treated by a robot armed with a stethoscope in a small, 20-foot-by-20-foot room at Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett, Business Insider reported.
Officials warned the US is expected to see additional cases. Washington state Health Secretary John Wiesman predicted that the number of Americans infected would likely grow as the coronavirus continues its spread at a faster rate than previously thought.
‘I would expect that at some point we’re going to have more cases in the US,’ Wiesman said, noting that there is no need to panic as public health officials are well-equipped to handle and contain outbreaks.
Dr Martin Cetron, director for the Division of Global Migration and Quarantine at the US’s Centers for Disease Control, said the CDC has instructed the Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Department to redirect anyone who tries to get from Wuhan to the US without going through any of the five airports set-up for screening.
He described funneling as ‘a very complex process that involves reissuing tickets and rerouting passengers from all over the globe through connecting indirect flights’.
CDC officials have also suggested the possibility of redirecting entire flights inbound from China through airports with screening checkpoints.
Shoppers are pictured in a supermarket in Wuhan, where people are complaining that food prices have risen and videos showed people scrapping over groceries (Picture taken January 23)
Medical workers in Hong Kong are dressed in protective gear which they have to wear while dealing with suspected coronavirus patients (Pictured January 23)
People covering their mouths with masks are pictured having their temperatures checked at Hangzhou railway station in the east of China, January 23
When a traveller is sent for a screening in the US, they are first required to take a survey about possible symptoms, such as cough or fever, as well as whether they visited the meat or seafood markets in Wuhan that have been tied to the outbreak.
If they appear to have any symptoms associated with coronavirus, they are taken to on-site triage for further examination and a temperature check.
Two passengers flying from Shanghai on United Airlines were reportedly examined at O’Hare on Tuesday after appearing to show symptoms of coronavirus, the airline said.
It’s unclear what led officials to single out the passengers, but they were both cleared and released after examination.
President Donald Trump addressed the deadly new virus during remarks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, early Wednesday morning. He praised the CDC’s rapid response and said the situation is being handled ‘very well’.
Clips posted on Twitter claim to show the impact the unprecedented decision to shut down Wuhan has had, with deserted streets reminiscent of the disaster film 28 Days Later.
Traffic has piled up on the city’s major roads, which have been blocked by police vans enforcing travel bans.
In one video an eerily quiet street is seen being ‘disinfected’, with billowing fumes filling the air, while another shows huge ‘quarantine tents’ lining a neighbourhood.
Airline passengers queue on January 23 at an airport in Hong Kong while wearing face masks to try and stop themselves catching the deadly virus
Travellers wear face masks as a precautionary measure at Hong Kong International Airport, pictured January 23
Pedestrians cover their faces in Hong Kong, January 23. At least two people have been infected in Hong Kong, which is part of the same land mass as China
Medical staff at Huazhong University of Science and Technology attended a ceremony to form a ‘assault team’ in the fight against the coronavirus
Another clip reportedly shows an airline passenger being wheeled out of an airport in a quarantine box, amid suspicions he has the coronavirus.
Wearing a protective suit, a mask and gloves, the man allegedly showed symptoms during screening and was isolated from other travellers.
Social media users complained that shops have bumped up the price of fresh produce and shoppers have been seen physically fighting a crowded supermarket.
One Twitter user, the BBC reported, said the threat of food shortages and disinfectant in the street made it feel like ‘the end of the world’.
A top official at the National Institute of Health (NIH) revealed that human trials for a vaccine targeting 2019-nCoV, what scientists have temporarily labelled it, could begin within three months.
Anthony Fauci told Bloomberg Law that his agency is working with Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotech company Moderna Inc to develop the vaccine.
‘We’re already working on it,’ he said. ‘And hopefully in a period of about three months, we’ll be able to start a phase I trial in humans.’
Vaccine experts at Baylor University are also reportedly working on modifying a vaccine they designed to prevent SARS to protect against the new, related coronavirus.
But the school’s Dean of Tropical Medicine, which is developing the shot, Dr Peter Hotez, has already told DailyMail.com that it’s likely years away from deployment.
An Oxford University expert said the outbreak so far has been ‘extraordinary’. Dr Peter Horby said: ‘We haven’t seen this large-scale spread since SARS.’
Speaking about whether he thought the World Health Organisation should declare it an international emergency, he added: ‘There are three criteria – one, is this an extraordinary event? Two, is it spreading internationally? Three, is an international response required? In my opinion all three of these have been met.’
SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, is caused by the SARS coronavirus. It first emerged in China in 2002.
By the end of a nine-month outbreak, the virus had spread to several other Asian countries as well as the UK and Canada, killing 775 and infecting more than 8,000.
On Thursday, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said it is ‘too early’ to declare an international public health emergency over the outbreak ‘given its restrictive and binary nature’.
Speaking at a press conference, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the WHO, said: ‘Make no mistake, this is though an emergency in China.
‘But it has not yet become a global health emergency.
‘It may yet become one.’