Paramedics wearing hazmat suit in York have whisked a man to hospital amid fears he may have coronavirus.
The unidentified man, who is believed to be Chinese, had checked into the budget Staycity Hotel yesterday.
A guest in the room – who also hasn’t been identified – is thought to have called a doctor after he became unwell.
Paramedics took him and two guests, who are all understood to be Chinese, from the hotel shortly at 8pm last night.
The unidentified man, who is believed to be Chinese, had checked into the budget Staycity Hotel yesterday
The killer coronavirus rapidly sweeping the world has now infected every region of China and 20 other countries. The death toll is 170 and cases have soared past 7,900
World Health Organization figures show just 2,014 patients had been struck down with the SARS-like infection by Sunday, January 26. This has now risen dramatically to 7,817, with cases in the US, Australia and Canada
As well as a dramatic increase in cases of the never-before-seen virus, figures also show the number of deaths have spiralled. Since yesterday, deaths rose by 38, marking the biggest 24-hour jump since the outbreak began last month
The Yorkshire Post reports that the man’s room has now been cordoned off and the building will undergo a deep clean.
A spokeswoman for the hotel group said: ‘We are in conversation with Public Health England.
‘He was taken away by paramedics masked up and suited so obviously (coronavirus) is the concern.’
However, they added they have not had any confirmation of diagnosis or advice at the minute.
The woman said it was not known if the group had travelled from China or which hospital he had been taken to.
The Department of Health refuses to comment on individual cases. It will announce an update on confirmed infections at 2pm.
A plane staffed by RAF and Army personnel is expected to bring back passengers to RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire
A family is pictured in an airport in Beijing wearing protective masks and plastic as they prepare to board a flight
An ambulance driven by a facemask-wearing medic leaves the airport after picking up suspected coronavirus patients
A Boeing 767 plane carrying 210 more Japanese people has landed in Tokyo today after rescuing them from Wuhan. It is the second evacuation plane to be sent for Japanese nationals
Keith Freeman, chief operating officer of the hotel group, said Public Health England advised them the risk was ‘absolutely minimal’.
He added: ‘The health and safety of our guests and staff are paramount and as such the apartment containing the group’s belongings has been sealed off, after which it will undergo a thorough environmental clean and disinfection, as is company policy.’
PHE said it was not providing a running commentary on tests that are under way but reiterated that there are no confirmed cases of novel coronavirus in the UK.
It is not the first time coronavirus fears have been raised in Britain – medics in hazmat suits quarantined a patient in Birmingham on Monday.
Dramatic footage showed 39-year-old Drew Bennett being loaded into an ambulance – hours after being sent home by his GP.
The sales worker returned from Wuhan on New Years’ Eve and quickly developed flu-like symptoms before becoming too unwell to leave his bed.
In other developments to the outbreak today, the number of cases has jumped to more than 7,900 and 170 people have died in China.
India declared its first case, making it the 21st country or territory outside of China to do so. Finland and UAE declared cases yesterday.
Three Japanese people taken home on the evacuation flight out of Wuhan have been diagnosed with the coronavirus.
Russia has closed its border with China in a desperate bid to prevent the spread of the deadly coronavirus.
And the World Health Organization will meet this afternoon to reconsider whether to declare a global emergency.