Coronavirus-infected businessman thanks NHS
The businessman at the centre of a UK outbreak of coronavirus has thanked the NHS for his treatment and said he is 'fully recovered'.
Steve Walsh, from Hove in East Sussex, who is still in quarantine at St Thomas' Hospital in London, picked up coronavirus while at a conference in Singapore.
On his way back to the UK, he stopped off for several days at a French ski chalet, where five Britons were subsequently infected with the virus.
He is also linked to at least five further cases of coronavirus in the UK, including two doctors, one of whom worked at a Brighton surgery that has closed its doors.
Speaking from hospital, Mr Walsh, a cub scout leader, said in a statement: "I would like to thank the NHS for their help and care - whilst I have fully recovered, my thoughts are with others who have contracted coronavirus.
"As soon as I knew I had been exposed to a confirmed case of coronavirus, I contacted my GP, NHS 111 and Public Health England.
"I was advised to attend an isolated room at hospital, despite showing no symptoms, and subsequently self-isolated at home as instructed.
"When the diagnosis was confirmed I was sent to an isolation unit in hospital, where I remain, and, as a precaution, my family was also asked to isolate themselves.
UK Coronavirus infection timeline
January 20-23: British businessman Steve Walsh attends a conference hosted by his firm Servomex in Singapore, where he contracts coronavirus.
January 24: Mr Walsh arrives in France for a ski break at Contamines Montjoie. He unknowingly infects several people with coronavirus there, including five Britons.
January 28: Mr Walsh returns to the UK on an easyJet flight from Geneva to Gatwick.
January 31: A University of York student and a relative become the UK's first confirmed cases of coronavirus. The pair fall ill at the Staycity apartmenthotel in York and are taken to Newcastle for treatment.
More than 80 Britons are taken for 14 days of isolation at Arrowe Park hospital on the Wirral after returning from Wuhan in China - the centre of the global outbreak.
February 3: Anthony MaySmith is quarantined in an Oxford hospital after feeling ill on a flight back from Wuhan. He is later given the all-clear.
February 5: Mr Walsh goes for a drink at the Grenadier pub, near his home in Hove, East Sussex.
February 6: He is quarantined after being diagnosed with coronavirus in Brighton. He is the third person to test positive in the UK.
February 9: A fourth person is diagnosed with coronavirus in the UK, having acquired the virus in France. They are believed to be a contact of Mr Walsh.
Around 200 British and foreign nationals evacuated from Wuhan on the UK's final rescue flight arrive at RAF Brize Norton and are taken to Milton Keynes for quarantine.
A British man is diagnosed with coronavirus in Mallorca after coming into contact with Mr Walsh.
February 10: The UK Government brings in new powers to forcibly keep people in quarantine, after one person threatens to abscond from Arrowe Park.
Four more patients in the UK - all contacts of Mr Walsh - are confirmed as having coronavirus, bringing the UK's total number of cases to eight. Public health officials try to trace patients treated by two of the latest victims, who are doctors.
February 11: Mr Walsh goes public with his story, thanking the NHS and saying he is fully recovered from coronavirus.
February 12: A ninth case of coronavirus was confirmed in the UK,. The latest patient in England is being treated at a specialist NHS centre at Guy's and St Thomas' in London. It is believed the case was detected in London, making it the first instance of coronavirus confirmed in the capital although the virus was passed on in China. As with the previously confirmed cases, officials are working to identify contacts the latest patient had.
A British honeymooner diagnosed with coronavirus said he has now tested negative for the disease - after being removed from a quarantined cruise ship where there are now 169 confirmed cases. Alan Steele, from Wolverhampton, was moved to hospital last Friday from the Diamond Princess cruise ship stationed off Japan after being diagnosed with the Covid-19 virus.
February 13: The twoweek quarantine at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside of 83 UK nationals flown back to Britain from Wuhan is set to end on Thursday morning, amid reports they have all tested negative for the virus.
More than half a dozen schools in Brighton, Hove and Eastbourne have pupils or staff who are self-isolating as a precaution after several cases of coronavirus were diagnosed in the area.