Coronavirus – Woman who shared evacuation flight from Wuhan with British nationals tests positive for deadly bug
A BELGIAN woman who was on a repatriation flight with Brits escaping Wuhan has tested positive for coronavirus, authorities said.
All the passengers on the French plane, which stopped in Marseille before touching down at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on Sunday, are currently in quarantine.
Read our coronavirus live blog for all the latest news and updates
It is believed the infected Belgian passenger did not disembark in the UK.
National Infection Service deputy director Nick Phin confirmed the woman had tested positive for the deadly bug which has killed over 400 people.
He said: "Public Health England has been notified that a Belgian national who shared a flight with repatriated British Nationals has tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
";All of the individuals who were on this flight are currently in supervised isolation and are being monitored for symptoms."
After leaving the jet, which took off from Beijing, the British nationals and their families were driven to a hospital in Merseyside where they began their 14 day isolation period.
More than 80 people who were in Wuhan - the epicentre of the crisis - are now in quarantine at Arrowe Park Hospital in the Wirral.
So far, two patients in York are the only people in the UK who have tested positive for coronavirus.
Thirty thousand Brits have been told to leave China immediately over the crisis.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the government will charter another plane on Sunday to evacuate more British nationals and their families.
But the Government is only helping Brits stuck in Wuhan and Hubei Province who want to get home - and anyone else has to find their own way out.
Airlines including British Airways and Lufthansa have halted ALL their flights to China over the killer bug outbreak.
Other airlines are still operating but those who wish to leave China may find increasingly difficult to do so over the coming weeks.
MOST READ IN NEWS
Mr Raab said today: "The safety and security of British people will always be our top priority.
"As such, we now advise British Nationals in China to leave the country if they can, to minimise their risk of exposure to the virus.
"Where there are still British Nationals in Hubei Province who wish to be evacuated, we will continue to work around the clock to facilitate this."
