Is this the UK’s first China virus victim?
Man who flew back from Wuhan ‘too sick to move’ rushed to isolation unit
A BRIT who returned home with flu-like symptoms from the Chinese city at the centre of the Coronavirus outbreak has been rushed into isolation.
NHS staff in full-body suits swooped on Drew Bennett’s home on Monday as worldwide alarm over the virus continued to rise. The confirmed death toll in China rose to 106 yesterday.
Drew, 39, from Birmingham, who works in sales, said: “I had been in Wuhan on holiday over Christmas.
Once I got back I was really ill with, what I thought, was a bad case of flu.
“Coronavirus hadn’t really been mentioned so I thought nothing of it. But my GP seemed really concerned.
“I was sent home and before I knew it, ambulances and people in hazmat suits had turned up. I’m now in isolation at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and just waiting to get my blood test results.”
He added: “Since I got over the worst symptoms I’ve been back to work, shopping, just normal life.”
A total of 97 people have been tested in the UK for the virus and given the all-clear. Brits left in Wuhan and the surrounding area are being urged to contact the British consulate and could be flown home as early as tomorrow.
Boris Johnson has previously insisted the Government is “doing everything” to get Britons out of Hubei province, which includes Wuhan – a central city with a population of 11 million.
The US has chartered a plane to evacuate citizens. A growing number of countries including India and France have said they will move their people.
Confirmed cases in China rose to 4,515 yesterday, up from 2,835 a day earlier. Hundreds of thousands more are thought to be infected in the region where around 200 Brits are reportedly rationing food and afraid to go out.
The Chinese authorities yesterday claimed the World Health Organisation was against governments airlifting out citizens. Its foreign ministry added: “The WHO is confident in China’s ability to prevent and control the epidemic.”
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the Government is “working on” how to bring people back.