As Britain is planning to evacuate 83 Britons stranded in the Chinese city Wuhan, the country has reported its first case of coronavirus infection. The statement came from the Chief Medical Officer for England, Professor Chris Whitty, on Friday.
The UK is the fifth European nation to confirm the disease, after France, Germany, Finland and Italy. The only case of human-to-human transmission was reported in Germany, earlier this week.
Britain confirms coronavirus infection
Britain is the latest country to confirm a coronavirus infection. Two members of the same family have been tested positive for the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), that has led to 213 deaths and infected about 10,000 persons globally, independent.co reported.
"We can confirm that two patients in England, who are members of the same family, have tested positive for coronavirus", Professor Chris Witty said in a statement. "The NHS is extremely well-prepared and used to managing infections and we are already working rapidly to identify any contacts the patients had, to prevent further spread", he added.
Commenting on Britain's preparedness to deal with the situation, he said, "We have been preparing for UK cases of novel coronavirus and we have robust infection control measures in place to respond immediately. We are continuing to work closely with the World Health Organisation and the international community as the outbreak in China develops to ensure we are ready for all eventualities."
83 Britons to fly from Wuhan
Flight carrying 83 Britons and 27 other nationals will land in Britain today. A number of medics will be present in the flight to provide medical care. Upon landing in Britain, the passengers will be taken to Arrowe Park hospital in the Wirral where they will spend 14 days in quarantine.
On Friday, South Korea evacuated 367 of its citizens from Wuhan. India is in the process to fly its citizens out of the city. Japan has airlifted 400 of its citizens on three flight and is in the process to send a fourth one to evacuate the remaining of the 650 Japanese nationals from Wuhan. United States and France have evacuated their citizens, while New Zealand and Australia are in the process to do the same.
Wuhan is the capital of China's Hubei province, which has emerged as the epicentre of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak that has claimed 213 lives-all in China and infected about 10,000 people from around the world. On January 23, Wuhan along with several other cities was put on a complete lock-down, with widespread travel restrictions and curbs on public assembly, in order to prevent the disease from spreading.
