Virus checks on planes from Chinese city

Illness is symptomless for up to five days so screening travellers flying in from China may not be effective

The Department of Health announced checks for symptoms of coronavirus on all passengers on direct flights from the Chinese city at the centre of the outbreak. The World Health Organization last night delayed a decision on declaring a global health emergency after Wuhan was put in lockdown as the Chinese authorities try to contain the outbreak. Wuhan, a city of 11 million people, is in effective quarantine after the virus infected at least 551 people and killed 17.

THE deadly coronavirus outbreak in China could reach Britain because borders are too “porous” to keep the infection out, experts have said.

Yesterday, the Department of Health announced that all direct flights from Wuhan to Britain will be met by teams from the Port Health Authority to check for symptoms of coronavirus.

However, last night, passengers arriving in Britain from Wuhan said they were not assessed. “There was no screening at Wuhan, and there was no screening as I landed. We were given a leaflet in English saying ‘if you’re experiencing any symptoms call NHS direct’.. It was quite sparse, the leaflet. I’ve not had my temperature checked,” one passenger told the BBC.

Prof Neil Ferguson, director of the Medical Research Council’s Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis at Imperial College London, said it was difficult to detect the virus because it had an incubation period of five days.

Asked if the virus was already here, he said: “We can’t rule out the possibility. Border screening and the alert in the health system is not 100 per cent foolproof. This sort of measure of trying to identify people who are sick coming off a plane will only identify, if you’re lucky, people who have a fever.

“If somebody was infected two days before they travelled, they will arrive without any symptoms at all.

“It’s understandable countries want to try to reduce the threat by various measures at the border. But the border will still be porous.”

There are three direct flights a week that arrive at Heathrow from Wuhan and passengers will be warned by the pilot to report symptoms, and checked as they leave the plane.

The move comes as Public Health England upgraded the risk to the UK population from coronavirus from “very low” to “low”.

Travellers to China were warned to maintain good personal hygiene and to avoid visiting animal and bird markets or people with respiratory symptoms. Symptoms of coronavirus can include fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties.

Individuals were told to seek medical attention if they develop respiratory symptoms within 14 days of visiting Wuhan, and must phone ahead to avoid spreading the infection.

There are no confirmed cases of the infection in the UK and the Department of Health said the NHS was well prepared to manage new diseases.

Dr Nick Phin, deputy director, of the National Infection Service, Public Health England, said: “This is a new and rapidly evolving situation where information on cases and the virus is being gathered and assessed daily.” The virus, which bears similarities to SARS and MERS, has never been seen before, and public health experts are trying to find out where it originated. They suspect it was passed from animals to humans, and now know it can be passed between humans.

Dr Andrew Freedman, reader in infectious diseases at Cardiff University, said further cases were likely to appear in Europe. “The WHO [World Health Orgainisation] is monitoring the situation closely and may decide to declare an international public health emergency,” he said.