Officials seek people linked to UK cases as some airlines stop China flights

The University of York said it has been advised by Public Health England that the risk of the infection being passed on to other people on campus is low.

A spokesman for the university said: “We understand this development will cause concern and anxiety among our students, staff, and the wider community.

“PHE (Public Health England) 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.

“Our immediate concerns are for the affected student and family, along with the health and continued wellbeing of our staff, students and visitors.”

Qatar Airways has announced it has suspended flights to mainland China from 3 February due to “significant operational challenges”.

Public Health England has said the University of York student confirmed as infected with coronavirus did not come in contact with anyone on campus while showing the coronavirus symptoms, Sky News is reporting.

Vietnam has declared a public health emergency over the coronavirus epidemic and said it would stop all flights to and from China.

The government said it would also stop issuing visas for foreign visitors who had been in China in the past two weeks.

All permits granted for flights between Vietnam and China, including Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, have been revoked until further notice, the government said.

Budget carrier Vietjet Air and the national firm, Vietnam Airlines, earlier said they would suspend all flights to and from China from today.

One of two people in the UK who tested positive for coronavirus is University of York student

One of the two people who has tested positive for coronavirus is a student at the University of York, a university spokesman said.

He said the university continues to operate normally.

The spokesman added: “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.”

Three Chinese citizens were denied entry to Erbil International airport, in the semiautonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq, over fears about the coronavirus outbreak in China, authorities said.

The three passengers were sent back to Dubai, from where they had flown to Erbil, a statement from Kurdistan’s airport authority said.

Iraq’s Basra International airport said on Friday it was denying entry to passengers of any nationality travelling to Iraq from China.

Turkmenistan Airlines has suspended flights to and from Beijing.

The move was aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus, the company said in a statement.

The government of Uzbekistan has also instructed the state airline to suspend flights to and from China.

Charter flights will bring back Uzbek citizens if they wish to return, except from Wuhan, it said.

Eighty-three Britons evacuated from China will spend their first full day in quarantine today.

They will spend 14 days in two apartment blocks normally used to house nurses, who have been moved to local hotels, in Wirral.

The UK evacuees have been put up in fully furnished rooms, including kitchens, and provided with food and laundry facilities.

Families are being kept together with toys and baby equipment available.

They will have access to a team of medical staff who will closely monitor their condition.

An English teacher, speaking from his room at Arrowe Park Hospital, Wirral, told The Guardian: “It’s like being in a crap hotel or a student halls of residence.

“I haven’t actually asked but I suspect I’m not really supposed to come out here in the next 14 days.

“It’s alright though. It will be OK.”

Matt Raw, one of those in quarantine, said he and his family “were extremely glad to be here” and they are feeling fine.

He told the BBC that he, his wife and his mother were staying in a four-bedroom apartment, along with another woman and her daughter.

Raw stressed they had “an army of people looking after them”.

He added there was a contained area outside where they were able to get some fresh air, adding they were “allowed contact with anybody within the facility, as long as we’re wearing face masks”.

Officials are attempting to trace people who had close contact with two Chinese nationals diagnosed with the new strain of coronavirus in the UK.

The pair, who are related, were taken ill while staying at a hotel in York on Friday.

Public Health England (PHE) said anyone who had close contact – defined as being within two metres of those infected for at least 15 minutes – will receive health advice.

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.”

The Department of Health and Social Care has just published its latest advice for the public.

It has confirmed that two patients in England have tested positive for coronavirus. If more cases are confirmed in the UK, it will be announced as soon as possible by the relevant chief medical officer.

“Based on the World Health Organization’s declaration that this is a public health emergency of international concern, ,” the statement said. “This permits the government to plan for all eventualities.

“The risk to individuals in the UK has not changed at this stage. Our advice for travellers from Wuhan and Hubei province remains unchanged from the below and we have added further advice for travellers from elsewhere in China.

“As of 31 January, a total of 177 UK tests have concluded, of which 175 were confirmed negative and 2 positive.

“Some 1,466 passengers and 95 staff arrived in the UK on direct flights from Wuhan between 10 and 24 January.

Foreign Office pulls staff out of China

The Foreign Office is withdrawing staff from China hours after flying dozens of UK nationals home from coronavirus-hit Wuhan, PA Media reports.

Essential staff will remain to continue “critical work” but the FCO has warned that its ability to provide help to Britons in the country may be limited.

The rescued UK nationals were taken to Arrowe Park hospital in Wirral in a convoy of six coaches on Friday.

They will spend the next 14 days in quarantine.