HUNT ON FOR UK VIRUS VICTIMS
Two tourists from China test positive after staying at York hotel ++ Now race is on to find anyone who came into contact with them ++ And the question: why is it STILL taking in guests?
THE hunt is on for anyone who has come into close contact with Britain’s first two coronavirus victims.
And a further 438 who have recently flown here from the Chinese epicentre of the outbreak are yet to be traced.
The two patients, believed to be Chinese tourists from the same family, had been staying at a hotel in York and became unwell on Wednesday evening.
Guests wearing protective masks were yesterday seen outside the hotel, which remains open.
Last night, Public Health England (PHE) said it was trying to speak to any ‘close contacts’ of the victims, who are being treated at an infectious diseases centre in Newcastle.
But its infection chief admitted that officials did not have ‘any idea’ how many people the pair may have interacted with.
As the Chief Medical Officer warned that the epidemic in China was ‘spreading out of control’;
■ GPs sent texts to patients telling them to stay indoors if they have coronavirus symptoms;
■ The 220-room Staycity Aparthotel in York where the infected pair stayed has come under fire for continuing to accept bookings;
■ Britons evacuated from the virus’s epicentre of Wuhan yesterday began a two-week quarantine at NHS staff accommodation on the Wirral;
■ Coach drivers taking Britons who had arrived from Wuhan up to the Wirral were pictured without a face mask as they were told to ‘self-isolate’;
■ A pilot from Wuhan was being tested at a London hospital after developing symptoms.
The two victims checked into the £49-a-night Staycity Aparthotel on Wednesday and shortly afterwards reported feeling unwell. Paramedics in hazmat suits arrived that evening to take them to hospital, telling other guests to ‘stand back’.
After testing positive for coronavirus, they were transferred 90 miles to an airborne high consequences infectious disease unit in Newcastle.
The hotel remains open for business, although the rooms where the guests were staying have been cordoned off and will undergo a deep clean.
Last night, some guests checked out after finding out the hotel was the scene of Britain’s first coronavirus cases. Others voiced criticism that no precautions had been taken by the hotel.
It was claimed that customers who had seen the news were initially told by staff: ‘It isn’t true.’
Andy Neale and Ellisa Imrie, both 21, from Manchester, said their trip to York ‘was a late Christmas present which had been ruined’.
Miss Imrie said: ‘I’m fuming. The hotel has told us nothing. They should be taking precautions so people don’t cough over each other. When we heard it on the news we went down to the desk and all they told us was, “it isn’t true”.’
Exchange student and Chinese national Chenyunyi Shao, 22, checked in yesterday with her 48year-old mother. The women, from Xian, arrived in the UK a month ago. Miss Shao said: ‘We are checking out today and going to the Hilton because we are worried.’
Professor Sharon Peacock, PHE’s infection chief, said: ‘We are contacting people who had close contact with the confirmed cases. Close contacts will be given health advice about symptoms and emergency contact details to use if they become unwell in the 14 days after contact with the confirmed cases.’
But while staff were working to trace people who have been in contact with the pair, the authorities did not have ‘any idea’ how high that number might be,’ Professor Peacock admitted.
PHE did not elaborate on what it meant by ‘close contacts’ but it could include anyone who has been in a lift or in close proximity on public transport.
The two cases – the first in Britain since the outbreak emerged in China last month – were announced by England’s Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty yesterday.
He said: ‘The risk comes from the epidemic in China spreading out of control. The numbers are going up very fast.’
A paper published in the Lancet journal last night predicted 75,800 people in the city of Wuhan alone had been infected – nearly 30 times bigger than the official toll of 2,639 cases in the city. So far 213 have died from 9,755 reported cases – a mortality rate of 2 per cent. Common seasonal flu kills about 0.1 per cent. SARS had a death rate of more than 10 per cent.
Infections have now been reported in 22 other countries including the UK and on Thursday the World Health Organisation declared the outbreak a ‘global health emergency’. The number of UK cases is expected to rise and tests are currently being carried out on a pilot from Wuhan at the Hillingdon Hospital in west London.
Separately, the Department of Health confirmed it was still trying to contact 438 travellers who have arrived here from Wuhan in the past three weeks. An appeal went out this week urging them to selfisolate for 14 days.
A spokesman for Staycity hotels said: ‘We have now received confirmation that two guests have been tested positive for coronavirus.
‘We have been advised by PHE that there is minimal ongoing risk of infection to either guests or staff, and as such our York property remains open for business.’
‘Epidemic spreading out of control’