International news reports circulating today say this coronavirus may have reached the UK as two Chinese travellers have been taken to hospital in Scotland with flu-like symptoms.
Mail Online reports: “The unidentified patients are thought to be from Wuhan, the city at the heart of the outbreak which has killed 17 people and potentially infected thousands.
“Tests have failed to rule out coronavirus. The patients are being treated at Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow.
“It is believed the travellers recently flew to London on a flight from Wuhan, ground zero for the outbreak in China that has killed at least 17 people and infected about 600 others, the Daily Record reports.
While initial tests have not been able to rule out coronavirus, “senior doctors believed the timing of the flights and symptoms gave grounds to be optimistic that they were suffering from common flu”.
Updates are expected later today.
Meanwhile, the UK is monitoring flights arriving from China, “as part of a series of precautionary measures after the spread of a new coronavirus”.
The Mirror reports: “The measures, announced by the Department of Health, will apply to flights from Wuhan to London Heathrow.
“The flights will be met in an isolated part of Terminal 4, with a health team available to check for symptoms.
“Public Health England said the current risk to the UK has been changed from “very low” to “low”.
“The health team will check for symptoms of coronavirus and provide information to all passengers about symptoms.
“The Foreign Office advised against all but essential travel to Wuhan.
“The first flight to arrive in the UK after the measures were announced landed just after 18:00 GMT.”
A spokesman for Heathrow said the airport was working with the government to “support the implementation of the measures”.
He added: “We would like to reassure passengers that the government assesses the risk of a traveller contracting coronavirus to be low.”
“Wuhan, the city at the heart of the outbreak, is to temporarily shut public transport in an attempt to halt the spread of the virus.
“The airport and train stations and other modes of transport will be closed to outgoing passengers from 10:00 local time on Thursday.
“There are estimated to have been 4,000 cases of the virus since the outbreak began, according to Professor Neil Ferguson, director of the Medical Research Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis,” the report said.
“However he said it was difficult to assess the numbers and Chinese hospitals would probably now be overwhelmed with suspected cases.
The outbreak has killed 17 people, and there are more than 500 confirmed cases.
“The vast majority of cases have been in Wuhan and Chinese authorities believe the virus originated from a seafood market that ‘conducted illegal transactions of wild animals’.
“However it has also spread to other Chinese cities and a handful of cases have been identified abroad, including in Japan and the US. There have been no cases in Britain.
“On Tuesday, authorities in China confirmed for the first time that human-to-human transmission of the virus had taken place.
“On Wednesday, the Department of Health announced there will be an “enhanced monitoring” package in place for all direct flights from China to the UK because of the threat of coronavirus.
“There are currently three direct flights a week from Wuhan to London Heathrow.
“The monitoring of direct flights will be kept “under continuous review” and expanded to other Chinese departure points if necessary, the government added.”
What we know so far about the Chinese coronavirus
“This type of coronavirus is a new strain that hasn’t been seen in humans before, which means doctors still have lots to learn about it.
“The first human cases were identified in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019. There have not been any other suspected human cases reported prior to this.
“The incubation period (how long it takes for symptoms to appear after catching the infection) is days, rather than weeks.
“It is not yet known how or when the virus became infectious to people. Experts believe the first cases were transmitted by an animal.
“Other coronaviruses, such as Sars and Mers, came from civet cats and camels respectively.
“At the moment, there is no vaccine that can protect people against it, but researchers are looking to develop one.
“The UK’s expected measures do not appear to include a medical screening of passengers at the airport for signs of the virus, as the UK did in 2014 following the Ebola outbreak.
“Then, screening involved taking people’s temperatures to check whether they have a fever and asking several questions to assess their risk.”
