Isolation and anguish in UK’s ‘Camp Corona’

MUTINOUS Britons held in quarantine after returning from coronavirus-ravaged China last night pleaded with doctors to explain why they must stay in isolation despite getting the all-clear.

Some of the 83 evacuees are already bored and frustrated and have questioned why they are being detained after testing negative for the deadly coronavirus, it emerged yesterday.

Although legally they cannot be forced to stay there, doctors have told evacuees cooped up in nurses’ accommodation next to Arrowe Park Hospital, on the Wirral, that there is no way they will be allowed to leave before the two-week period is up.

A source told the Mail that none of those detained at the block – dubbed Camp Corona – had tested positive for the infection and, although grateful for the care they are receiving, several are frustrated they will not be allowed home sooner.

They have been given games consoles, televisions and radios to keep them entertained and there is a pool table in one communal area. They are also allowed into a small fenced-off courtyard for fresh air, but the perimeter is being patrolled by police to stop them leaving.

The insider said many were already feeling bored and unimpressed at having to stay in the block for another 11 days. It is understood counsellors will be on hand to talk to them in case the situation starts to affect their mental health.

‘So far nobody has shown any signs of having contracted the illness, so there is a sense of relief among everyone,’ the source said. ‘But already there is a growing feeling the next two weeks aren’t going to be easy.

‘One or two are already saying, “Do we really need to be here this long?” and pointing out they have jobs to get back to and lives they want to lead.’

Several of those who flew into the UK from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan, China, on Friday have been keeping video diaries or talking to the outside world via social media.

Eleven more British nationals and their family members yesterday boarded a French flight and arrived at the quarantine facility last night but they will not be allowed to mix with the evacuees already there. The group is thought to include a baby and two young children.

Teacher Kharn Lambert, 30, said staff had told the evacuees to stay as ‘isolated as possible’ from one another. ‘We’ve been told that if we go to any communal area we must keep our masks on at all times,’ he said. ‘We can take them off in our rooms. We can move around and talk to each other but if we can stay isolated as much as we can they prefer that.’

The source added: ‘Generally people are keeping themselves to themselves and a lot of the time people are alone in their rooms. Everyone is naturally a bit wary of mixing too closely in case the disease is among those in the unit and it suddenly spreads. That’s the nightmare everyone dreads. Every time someone sneezes or coughs you can sense the tension.’

Lecturer Yvonne Griffiths, 71, from Cardiff, said she had been put in a shared flat with four bedrooms, a kitchen and a lobby area, and food and drinks were being delivered to them. ‘People go [to the lobby] to collect things and pick up food and some people will stand having their food together, but all wearing masks,’ she said. ‘Obviously you have to put your mask down a little to eat.’

‘You can sense the tension’