The government is facing calls to freeze all travel from China once the last batch of British evacuees is rescued from coronavirus-hit Wuhan.
Tomorrow, 150 UK nationals will be airlifted from the Hubei province and flown back home before being immediately quarantined for 14 days in a Milton Keynes isolation compound.
South Central Ambulance Service said that Kents Hill Park, a conference centre and hotel, will be used to house the returning citizens after they land at RAF Brize Norton.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said it will be the last chartered jet for Britons to flee China as he cranked up efforts to fend off the deadly virus spreading on British soil.
A source on the All Party Parliamentary China Group mooted mimicking other countries by enforcing a travel ban from China, the epicentre of the outbreak which has infected 31,527 and killed 724 victims worldwide.
Blacklisting flights from China could sour relations with Beijing, but MPs are urging the government to guarantee the safety of its citizens.
Conservative MP Bob Seely said: ‘Clearly we need to be respectful and supportive of the Chinese government, but our priority is our own people.
‘The basis of our decisions, and how we allow movement between China and the UK, needs to be solely focused on what’s in the best hill stations in india interests of Britons both abroad and at home.’
If introduced a ban would likely apply to foreign nationals who have visited China in the last 14 days – something 16 countries including the US, Australia, New Zealand and Japan have already imposed.
Even Saudi Arabia and Iraq have introduced the ban before Britain.
Virologist Professor Ian Jones, from the University of Reading, welcomed the move, saying it was a ‘simple’ and ‘proactive’ measure that could delay more cases on home soil.
And leading scientists – speaking at a hastily organised meeting by the respected Science Media Centre in London today – said travel restrictions could buy the UK valuable time to develop a vaccine.
The news follows backlash at the Government’s ‘weak’ response to the outbreak. Last night it issued ‘updated travel advice’ – which simply warned travellers from nine Asian countries ‘to phone NHS 111 and quarantine themselves’ if they feel ill.
The UK’s third coronavirus patient went to A&E at the Royal Sussex in Brighton on Sunday night after suffering from flu-like symptoms before being rushed to Guy’s Hospital in London. It comes almost a week after two Chinese nationals, a University of York student and his mother, were confirmed to have the lethal virus and they have been quarantined at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle.
Meanwhile 93 others are quarantined on the Wirral after being evacuated from Wuhan – while another among them was rushed to a hospital in Oxford
Saudi Arabia yesterday became the 16th nation to ban travellers from coronavirus-hit China from entering the country.
A total of 31 countries have grounded planes to and from mainland China, to varying degrees
People in Hong Kong line up outside a pharmacy to buy surgical masks which are in shortage in the city
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab (left in Tokyo today) said it will be the chartered jet for Britons to flee of China as he cranked up efforts to fend off the deadly virus spreading on British soil. Conservative MP Bob Seely (right) said: ‘Clearly we need to be respectful and supportive of the Chinese government, but our priority is our own people.
Everyone boarding the British evacuation plane at the Chinese city, which is the epicentre of the outbreak, will be assessed and will continue to be monitored after landing in the UK on Sunday morning.
The ambulance service said the presence of the group in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, does not present a risk to local people.
‘The local site has been chosen because it offers appropriate accommodation and other facilities for those coming back from Wuhan while they stay in Milton Keynes,’ the ambulance service said.
‘It also allows their health to be regularly monitored and has the necessary medical facilities close at hand should they be required.’
All staff working at the facility will wear appropriate protective equipment at all times.
Britons who returned on a flight last month were taken to Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral.
The news comes as it is revealed the virus has killed at least 638 people and infected more than 31,520 globally.
The Department of Health and Social Care said that 620 people in the UK have been tested for coronavirus as of 2pm Friday, with three cases confirmed.
It is understood that the third person in the UK to be diagnosed with coronavirus caught the illness in Singapore.
He is reported to be a middle-aged British man and is understood to be the first UK national to contract the disease.
The man is thought to have been diagnosed in Brighton and was transferred to St Thomas’ Hospital in London, where there is an infectious disease unit, on Thursday afternoon.
British honeymooner Alan Steel, from Wolverhampton, became the second confirmed UK national to be diagnosed with the lethal disease after catching it on a cruise ship off the coast of Japan (pictured with his new wife Wendy)
Alan Steele (pictured right) was separated from his new wife Wendy (pictured left on board the cruise ship) and taken off the Diamond Princess after learning his test results in Yokohama Bay today
The third coronavirus patient in the UK went to A&E at the Royal Sussex in Brighton after suffering from flu-like symptoms before being transferred to Guy’s Hospital in London (pictured)
He is thought to be in his 40s or 50s and caught the virus while attending a business conference in Singapore organised by UK company Servomex (pictured, its HQ)
