Britain on brink of killer coronavirus epidemic amid fears thousands are infected with deadly bug after 14 hospitalised

BRITAIN is on the brink of a coronavirus epidemic as 14 people are hospitalised by the killer illness.

A desperate hunt has begun for 2,000 recent UK arrivals from China where the deadly snake flu has killed 26 people as it swept across the country.

BRINK OF EPIDEMIC

Health Secretary Matt Hancock is set to chair an emergency COBRA meeting at midday as the government come under pressure to contain the outbreak as soon as possible.

Meanwhile GPs have warned that anyone showing symptoms of coronavirus should be locked down in quarantine to stop it from spreading across our shores in a similar devastating fashion.

Fourteen people have been tested for the virus, with five confirmed negative and nine still awaiting results, Public Health England (PHE) said on Thursday night.

The Scottish Government had earlier confirmed that five people were being examined after presenting with symptoms of the illness, while it was understood that another patient was being tested at Belfast's Royal Victoria Hospital.

PHE would not give a breakdown of where the people were tested or where the negative results were recorded.

Professor Robert Dingwall, a public health expert at Nottingham Trent University, told Sun Online the coronavirus is "another potentially epidemic virus", alongside flu.

He said: ";The problem at the moment is determining how bad the Wuhan coronavirus really is.

"These viruses vary from things like SARS or MERS at one end of the spectrum, to common colds at the other.

"The Wuhan virus does not seem to be like SARS or MERS. The death rate seems to be quite low relative to the number of infected people, although there is not yet enough data to form a conclusive judgement."

KILLER VIRUS

After emerging in the city of Wuhan, the deadly coronavirus has continued its relentless global march, with the number of nations affected almost doubling overnight.

Confirmed cases have skyrocketed to more than 800 in China alone, officials said.

Vietnam, Singapore, Saudi Arabia and Hong Kong all now have confirmed cases — alongside the US, China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand.

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But the World Health Organisation last night refused to declare a global public health emergency, saying it was “too early”.

However, officials admitted the committee was split almost 50-50.

Four major Chinese cities are in lockdown with 20million people in quarantine, with evidence of human to human transmission.

Officials have restricted travel in virus epicentre Wuhan, which is home to 11million, as well as neighbouring Huanggang, Ezhou and Lichuan.

Hospitals warned they could not cope with the number of patients turning up with symptoms.

It comes as...

• The coronavirus death toll has climbed to 26 with more than 800 confirmed cases
• China has placed a lockdown on the Hubei province, the centre of the outbreak
• Fourteen people in the UK have been tested for coronavirus with five confirmed negative and nine still awaiting the results
• Authorities are monitoring the virus with fears millions of people will travel for the Lunar New Year
• The World Health Organisation is yet to declare a global public health emergency

Preliminary research suggested the coronavirus was passed on to humans from snakes at Wuhan’s seafood market.

Michael Ryan, head of WHO’s emergencies programme, said almost three-quarters of confirmed cases were in people aged over 40, with four in ten having underlying health conditions.

Experts have warned it may prove as deadly as the Spanish flu, which claimed 50million lives.

There are fears that it could accelerate further with millions travelling Chinese New Year celebrations tomorrow.

BRITAIN IS READY

Britain is now ramping up preparations against the epidemic, Health Secretary Matt Hancock warning yesterday that there will likely be cases in the upcoming days.

Mr Hancock said the UK is “well prepared” to deal with the virus.

He told the Commons: “This is a rapidly developing situation and the numbers of cases and deaths is likely to be higher than those that have been confirmed so far. We expect them to rise further.

“The Chief Medical Officer has revised the risk to the UK population from ‘very low’ to ‘low’ — and has concluded that there is an increased likelihood that cases may arise in this country.”

The NHS 111 helpline has a message encouraging callers to report any flu-like symptoms if they have recently travelled to China.

Experts claim the potential UK cases may be the tip of the iceberg.

Professor Jurgen Haas, head of infection medicine at Edinburgh University, said he expected more.

He added: “The situation will be pretty similar in pretty much all UK cities with a large number of Chinese students.

“It’s not too surprising. My suspicion is that there will probably be many more cases in many other cities in the UK.”

And a mum whose baby was diagnosed with a mild strain of coronavirus revealed how her six-month-old son was hospitalised for five days.

Amy Brooks, from Widnes, in Cheshire, said it took baby James eight weeks to recover.

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