105 f ly in as hotel turns into Camp Corona II
MORE than 100 Britons were placed in quarantine at a three- star hotel in Milton Keynes yesterday after another airlift from Wuhan.
Wearing masks and escorted by health staff in hazmat suits, the group flew from China to RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.
Some passengers held children in their arms as they were helped from the plane. The 105 Britons were taken to Kents Hill Park hotel and conference centre in a convoy of coaches with a police escort.
It follows earlier airlifts to Britain from the city at the heart of the coronavirus outbreak, which brought 94 people to quarantine on the Wirral.
The Milton Keynes group will stay at the hotel for two weeks until they receive the medical all- clear. They have been given books and magazines and will have access to the internet on phones and tablets.
Children will receive toys and games. Upon arrival at the hotel, the group were handed bags of toiletries and supplied with underwear from Primark and other clothing. Baby equipment, such as highchairs, is also being brought in. The hotel, which has more than 70 meeting rooms and 300 bedrooms, was surrounded by temporary fencing yesterday. Ambulances waited outside and police guarded entrances.
The chartered flight arrived at Brize Norton shortly before 7.30am. It was carrying the 105 Britons along with 95 Europeans and 13 medical staff and officials. It is understood all the passengers went to the quarantine hotel. It emerged that two Britons were prevented from boarding in Wuhan after displaying high temperatures during screening.
The hotel is close to three schools, but nearby residents said they were not concerned about the quarantine being so close. Stephen Szyelimski, 73, said: ‘They’ve got to go somewhere. You could say that it may have been better if they had been put in a more of an isolated place but I’ve got no bones of contention. It’s got to be done properly.’
Tracy Philemon, 59, said: ‘Wherever they do it, people aren’t going to be happy. It’s unfortunate for us in some
‘They’ve got to go somewhere’
respects, but as long as they do things the way they’re supposed to... I don’t see a problem with it.’ Meanwhile, a Briton whose honeymoon on a luxury cruise ship was cut short after he contracted the coronavirus yesterday told how he ‘can’t wait to get out’ of hospital.
Lorry driver Alan Steele, 58, was removed last week from the Diamond Princess which is currently in quarantine off the coast of Japan with 3,700 passengers on board.
His placement in an isolation unit onshore in Japan was coupled with the heartache of being separated from his new wife Wendy, 51.
Mr Steele said he had shown no signs of serious illness and was whiling away his time watching British television. He insisted: ‘My vitals all still show I am healthy.’
Mr Steele, from Wolverhampton, vented his frustration at being unable to take a shower or use a coffee machine due to safety risks. He said: ‘I cannot wait to get out of here.’